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^  PRINCETON,    N.    J. 


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THE  WORD  OF   LIFE. 


THE  WORD  OF  LIFE 


SELECTIONS   FROM  THE  WORK  OF 
A  MINISTRY 


CHAELES  J.^EOWN,    D.D., 


EDINBURGH. 


NEW    YOEK: 
ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS,  530  BROADWAY. 

18  74. 


EDINBURGH  : 
PRINTED  BY  JOHN  GREIG  AND  SON. 


TO 

THE    CONGREGATION 

OF 

FREE    NEW   NORTH   CHURCH, 

EDINBURGH, 

TO  WHOM  IT  HAS  BEEN  FOR  THIRTY-SIX  YEARS,  AND  STILL  IS, 

HIS  PRIVILEGE  TO  MINISTER  THE  WORD  OF  LIFE, 

THESE  MEMORIAL  SELECTIONS  ARE  AFFECTIONATELY  INSCRIBED 

BY  THEIR  FRIEND  AND  PASTOR, 

CHAS.  J.  BROWN. 


"  I  WILL  ENDEAVOUR  THAT  YE  MAY  BE  ABLE  AFTER  MY 
DECEASE  TO  HAVE  THESE  THINGS  ALWAYS  IN  REMEMBKANCE." 
—  2  Petek  i.  15. 


1 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


It  has  long  seemed  to  me  that  the  style  proper  to  the  pulpit — 

aud   especially  for   Discourses  not  read — differs  considerably 

from  what  has  usually  been  thought  the  fittest  for  the  press. 

Certainly  many  sermons  that  were  listened  to  with  deep  and 

solemn  interest,  delivered  with  the  freedom  of  manner  befitting 

the  pulpit,  may  be  apt  to  appear  comparatively  tame  when 

reproduced  in  the  pages  of  a  book.     Great  words  of  Scripture, 

for  instance,  which,  uttered  with  the  warm  living  voice,  formed 

a  large  and  important  part  of  the  preaching,  may  wear  an  aspect 

not  a  little  different  when  read  in  a  printed  page  ;  and  many  a 

word    of  fervent   appeal,  entreaty,   expostulation,   thrown  in 

extemporaneously  in  the  progress  of  a  Discourse,  may  scarce 

admit  of  being  reproduced  at  all.     Hence,  in  part,  a  difficulty  I 

have  long  felt  in  complying  with  the  wishes  of  friends  as  to 

publishing  some  selections  from  the  work  of  a  long  ministry. 

My  mode  also  of  studying  for  the  pulpit,  together  with  the  state 

of  my  manuscripts,  bearing  a  close  relation  to  it,  has  repeatedly 

stopped  me  in  the  attempt  to  prepare  a  series  of  Discourses  for 

the  press.     Having  at  length,  so  far  at  least,  overcome  these 

difficulties,  I  desire  humbly  to  commit  the  present  volume  to 

the  gracious  Lord,  beseeching  Him  that  He  will  vouchsafe  to 

use  it  to  His  own  glory. 

C.  J.  B. 

Edinburgh,  2-ilh  Novemher  1873. 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

THE  EXPULSION— ITS  CHAEACTER  AND  LESSONS. 

PAGE 

So  he  drove  out  the  maii."-GENESIS  iii.  24,  ....  J 


XL 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS  BROUGHT  FORTH  TO  THE 
PEOPLE. 


Tlien  came  Jesus  forth,  wearing  the  crown  of  thorns,  and  the  purjile  robe. 

And  Pilate  saith  unto  them.  Behold  the  man '."—JOHN  xix.  5, .  .        16 


IIL 

INCREDULITY  REBUKED. 

Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Said  1  not  unto  thee,  that,  if  thou  wouldest  believe, 
thou  shouldest  see  the  glorj'  of  God  ?  "—JOHN  xi.  40,      .  .  .        2G 


PAGE 


:  CONTENTS. 

lY. 

JEHOVAH-JIREH. 

And  Abraham  called  the  name  of  that  place  Jehovah-jireh  :  as  it  is  said 
to  this  day,  In  the  mount  of  the  Lord  it  shall  be  seen."— GENESIS 
xxii,  14,  ......... 


THE  HEART  OF  JESUS— HIS  AFFECTION  FOR  THE 
LITTLE  ONES. 

And  they  brought  young  children  to  him,  that  he  should  touch  them ; 
and  his  disciples  rebuked  those  that  brought  them.  But  when  Jesus 
saw  it,  he  was  much  displeased,  and  said  luito  them.  Suffer  the  little 
children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not :  for  of  such  is  the 
kingdom  .of  God,  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Whosoever  shall  not  receive 
the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child,  he  shall  not  enter  therein.  And 
he  took  them  up  in  his  arms,  put  his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed 
them."— MARK  x.  13-16, 


VL 

THE  DOOM  OF  MEROZ. 

Curse  ye  Meroz,  said  the  angel  of  the  Loi'd  ;  curse  ye  bitterly  the  inhabi- 
tants thereof ;  because  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty."— JUDGES  v,  23,    . 


VIL 

LYING  ON  JESUS'  BREAST. 

Now  there  was  leaning  on  Jesus'  bosom  one  of  his  disciples,  whom  Jesus 
loved.  Simon  Peter  therefore  beckoned  to  him,  that  he  should  ask 
who  it  should  be  of  whom  he  spake.  He  then  lying  on  Jesus'  breast, 
saith  unto  him.  Lord,  who  is  it?"— JOHN  xiii.  23-25.  Text— "  Tie 
lying  on  Jesus'  breast,"  .......        75 


CONTENTS.  XI 

VIII. 

A  COMMVNIOX  SABBATirS  SERVICES. 

1.  3Torni)i(/  Sermon  : 

CHEIST'S  OWN  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  BLOOD-SHEDDING. 

PAGE 

'  This  is  my  blood  of  the  new  testament  [covenant],  wliich  is  shed  for  many 
for  the  remission  of  sins."— MATTHEW  xxvi.  28,  . 


86 


101 


107 


2.  Pulpit  Address  before  Commnniov, 

3.  Commiin ion  Table  Address, 

4.  Evening  Sermon  : 
THE  BRIDEGROOM'S  CALL  TO  THE  BRIDE. 

Hearken,  O  daughter,  and  consider,  and  incline  thine  ear  ;  forget  also 
thine  own  people,  and  thy  fathei-'s  house  ;  so  shall  the  King  greatly 
desire  thy  beauty  :  for  he  is  thy  Lord,  and  worship  thou  him."— PS  ALM 
xlv.  10,  11, 

IX. 

CHIEF  END  OF  MAN. 

'  This  people  have  I  formed  for  myself ;  they  shall  shew  forth  my  praise." 

—ISAIAH  xliii.  21, ^^^ 

X. 

JESUS  ONLY. 
'  And  after  six  days  Jesus  taketh  Peter,  James,  and  John  his  brother, 
and  bringeth  them  up  into  an  high  mountain  apart,  and  was  trans- 
figured before  them  :  and  his  face  did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  his  raiment 
was  white  as  the  light.  And,  behold,  there  appeared  unto  them  Moses 
and  Elias  talking  with  him.  Then  answered  Peter,  and  said  unto  Jesus, 
Lord,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here  :  if  thou  wilt,  let  us  make  here  three 
tabernacles ;  one  for  thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elias.  While 
he  yet  spake,  behold,  a  bright  cloud  overshadowed  them  :  and  behold  a 
voice  out  of  the  cloud,  which  said,  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I 
am  well  pleased  ;  hear  ye  him.  And  when  the  disciples  heard  it,  they 
fell  on  their  face,  and  were  sore  afraid.  And  Jesus  came  and  touched 
them,  and  said.  Arise,  and  be  not  afraid.  And  when  tiiey  had  lifted  up 
their  eyes,  they  saw  no  man,  save  Jesus  only."— MATTHEW  xvii.  1-8. 
Text— "And  when  they  had  lifted  up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  man,  save 
Jesus  only,"     .  .  •  •  •  •  •  •  •       '-^ 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

XL 
YOUTH  KENEWED. 

PAGK 

"  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul ;  and  all  that  is  within  me,  bless  his  holy 
name.  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits :  who 
forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities ;  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases ;  who  re- 
deemeth  thj*  life  from  ^destruction  ;  who  crowneth  thee  with  loving- 
kindness  and  tender  mercies  ;  who  satisfieth  thy  mouth  with  good 
things  ;  so  that  thy  youth  is  renewed  like  the  eagle's."— PSALM  ciii. 
1-5.     Texi— "Thy  youth  is  renewed  like  the  eagle's,"       .  .  .141 

XIL 

THE  LORD  OUR  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

"  This  is  his  name  whereby  he  shall  be  called,  The  Lord  our  Righteous- 
ness."—JEREMIAH  xxiii.  6,  ......       154 


XIIL 
SELF-DEDICATION  TO  GOD. 

O  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant ;  I  am  thy  servant,  and  the  son  of  thine 
handmaid  :  thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds."— PSALM  cxvi.  16,        .  .      168 

XIV. 

THE  SICKNESS— THE  PHYSICIAN. 

And  it  came  to  pass,  as  Jesus  sat  at  meat  in  the  house,  behold,  many 
publicans  and  sinners  came  and  sat  down  with  him  and  his  dis- 
ciples. And  when  the  Pharisees  saw  it,  they  said  unto  his  disciples, 
Why  eateth  your  Master  with  publicans  and  sinners  ?  But  when  Jesus 
heard  that,  he  said  unto  them.  They  that  be  whole  need  not  a  physician, 
but  they  that  are  sick."— MATTHEW  ix.  10-12.  Text— "  But  when 
Jesus  heard  that,  he  said  unto  them,  They  that  be  whole  need  not  a 
physician,  but  they  that  are  sick,"  .  .  .  ,  .181 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

XV. 
PARABLE  OF  THE  MARRIAGE  FEA^T-Lecture. 

PAGE 

The  kinifdom  of  heaven  is  Hke  unto  a  certain  kini,',  which  made  a  niar- 
riapfe  foi*  his  son,  and  sent  forth  his  servants  to  call  them  that  were 
bidden  to  the  wedding  :  and  they  would  not  come.  Again,  he  sent 
forth  other  servants,  saying.  Tell  them  which  are  bidden,  Beliold,  I  have 
prepared  mj'  dinner  :  my  oxen  and  myfatlings  are  killed,  and  all  things 
are  ready ;  come  unto  the  marriage.  But  thej^  made  light  of  it,  and 
went  their  ways,  one  to  his  farm,  another  to  his  merchandise  :  and  the 
remnant  took  his  servants,  and  entreated  them  spitefully,  and  slew 
them.  But  when  the  king  heard  thereof,  he  was  wroth  :  and  he  sent 
forth  his  annies,  and  destroyed  those  murderers,  and  burned  up  their 
city.  Then  saith  he  to  his  servants,  The  wedding  is  ready,  but  they 
which  were  bidden  were  not  worthy.  Go  ye  therefore  into  the  high- 
waj's,  and  as  many  as  ye  shall  find,  bid  to  the  marriage.  So  those 
servants  went  out  into  the  highways,  and  gathered  together  all,  as 
many  as  they  found,  both  bad  and  good  :  and  the  wedding  was  furnished 
with  guests.  And  when  the  king  came  in  to  see  the  guests,  he  saw  there 
a  man  which  had  not  on  a  wedding-garment :  and  he  saith  unto  him. 
Friend,  how  earnest  thou  in  hither,  not  having  a  wedding-garment? 
And  he  was  speechless.  Then  said  the  king  to  the  servants,  Bind  him 
hand  and  foot,  and  take  him  away,  and  cast  him  into  outer  darkness  ; 
there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  For  many  are  called,  but 
few  are  chosen."— MATTHEW  xxii.  2-14,  .  .  .  .  .189 


XVI. 

CHRIST  MADE  A  CURSE. 

'  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse 
for  us :  for  it  is  written.  Cursed  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree." 
— GALATIANS  iii.  13.    Text—"  Christ  .  .  .  made  a  curse  for  us,"         .      205 


XVII. 
WAITING  FOR  THE  PROFUSE  OF  THE  FATHER. 

And,  being  assembled  together  with  them,  commanded  them  that  they 
should  not  depart  from  Jerusalem,  but  wait  for  the  promise  of  the 
Father,  which,  saith  he,  ye  have  heard  of  me."— ACTS  1.  4.  Text— 
"  He  commanded  them  that  they  .  .  .  should  wait  for  the  promise  of 
the  Father," 219 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

XVIII. 

A  COMMUNION  SABBATHS  SERVICES. 

1.  Morning  Sermon  : 

THE  SAVIOUR— HIS  ERRAND  INTO  THE  WORLD. 

PAGE 

"The  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save   that  which  was  lost."-- 

LUKE  xix.  10, 2.33 

2.  Pulpit  Address  before  Communion,        .  .      245 

3.  Communion  Table  Address,     .  .  .249 

4.  Evening  Sermon  : 

FEAR  AND  FAITH. 

"And  Jacob  said,  O  God  of  my  father  Abraham,  and  God  of  my  father 
Isaac,  the  Lord  which  saidst  unto  me.  Return  unto  thy  country,  and 
to  thy  liindred,  and  I  will  dfeal  well  with  thee  :  I  am  not  worthy  of  the 
least  of  all  the  mercies,  and  of  all  the  truth,  which  thou  hast  shewed 
unto  thy  servant ;  for  with  my  staff  I  passed  over  this  Jordan,  and  now 
I  am  become  two  bands.  Deliver  me,  T  pray  thee,  from  the  hand  of  my 
brother,  from  the  hand  of  Esau  :  for  I  fear  him,  lest  he  will  come  and 
smite  me,  and  the  mother  with  the  children.  And  thou  saidst,  I  will 
•surely  do  thee  good,  and  make  thy  seed  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  which 
cannot  be  numbered  for  multitude."— GENESIS  xxxii.  9-12.  Text— 
"  I  fear  him  .  .  .  And  thou  saidst,"  .....      254 


XIX. 

THE  NATURAL  HEART  UNVEILED  IN  THE  GREAT 
ACCOUNT. 

And  another  came,  saying,  Lord,  behold,  here  is  thy  pound,  which  I 
have  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin  :  for  I  feared  thee,  because  thou  art  an 
austere  man  ;  thovi  takest  vip  that  thou  layedst  not  down,  and  reapest 
that  thou  didst  not  sow."— LUKE  xix.  20,  21.  Text—"  For  I  feared 
thee,  because  thou  art  an  austere  man,"     .  .  ,  .  .267 


XX. 

THE  COVENANT— ITS  DEATHLESS  LIFE  AND  HOPE. 

In  hope  of  eternal  life,  which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised  before  the 
world  began."— TITUS  i.  2,    . 


CONTENTS.  XV 

XXI. 
THE  GOLDEN  SAYING. 

PAGE 

I  have  shewed  you  all  thinjrs,  how  that  so  labouring  ye  ouji^ht  to  supiiort 
the  weak,  and  to  remember  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  how  he  said, 
It  is  more  blessed  to  give  tuax  to  receive."— acts  xx.  35,      .  .      293 


XXII. 

THE  DYING  SUBSTITUTE  AND  KEEPER  OF  ISRAEL. 

"  Jesus  answered,  I  have  told  you  that  I  am  he.  If  therefore  ye  seek  me, 
let  these  go  their waj' :  that  the  saying  might  be  fulfilled  which  he  spake. 
Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me  have  I  lost  none."-  JOHN  xviii.  8,  9,     ,      30G 

XXIII. 

THE  CROWNING  PETITION  OF  THE  INTERCESSORY 
PRAYER. 

"  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me  where 

I  am  ;  that  they  may  behold  my  glory."— JOHN  xvii.  2-1,  .  .      318 


THE  EXPULSION— ITS  CHARACTER  AND  LESSONS. 

'*So  he  drove  out  the  man."— Gen.  hi.  24. 

A  SHORT  text,  but  a  weighty  one,  forming  a  very 
material  part  of  a  chapter  replete  with  the  most  solemn, 
awful,  and  yet  blessed,  interest  to  our  fallen  race — So 
he  drove  out  the  man.  Whether  is  this  judgment,  or  is  it 
mercy  ?  I  believe  that  it  is  both  judgment  and  mercy, 
and  both  in  nearly  equal  degree ;  although  the  mercy 
will  be  found,  indeed,  wonderfully  rejoicing  against  the 
judgment. 

I.  First,  it  is  a  word  this  of  sole^jn  divine  judgment. 
*'  He  drove  out  the  man."  It  was  a  divine  expulsion 
from  the  primeval  paradise.  In  the  previous  verse  this 
liad  been  expressed  in  more  general  terms,  "  The 
Lord  God  sent  him  forth  from  the  garden  of  Eden." 
Now,  more  specifically,  He  drove  him  out.  Nor  was  this 
divine  expulsion  one  from  the  delights  merely,  the  end- 
lessly varied  beauties  and  satisfactions,  of  that  choicest 
part  of  a  world  which,  everywhere,  God  had  himself  pro- 
nounced to  be  very  good.  It  was  this,  indeed  ;  and  in  this 
judgment  of  course  appeared.  When  the  man  was  driven 
forth  from  the  paradise  of  earth, — from  all  those  outward, 
material  objects  which  had  been  to  him  the  source  of 
far  more  than  sinless  enjoyment,  since  they  had  led  him 
up  in  adoring  gratitude  and  admiration  to  the  glorious 
God — herein  did  the  divine  judgment  against  sin  so  far 
appear  ;  the  wrath  of  God  was  revealed  from  heaven 
against  the  ungodliness  and  unrighteousness  of  man.     It 

A 


2  THE  EXPULSION — ITS  CHAEACTER  AND  LESSONS. 

Tvas  as  if  tlie  Lord  had  said,  Be  astonislied,  0  ye  heavens, 
at  thij5,  and  be  horribly  afraid,  be  ye  very  desolate,  saith 
the  Lord ;  for  my  creature  hath  committed  two  evils  :  he 
hath  forsaken  me,  the  fountain  of  living  waters,  and 
hewed  him  out  cisterns,  broken  cisterns,  which  can  hold  no 
water.  Know,  therefore,  and  see  that  it  is  an  evil  thing 
and  bitter,  that  thou  hast  forsaken  the  Lord  thy  God,  and 
that  my  fear  is  not  in  thee,  saith  the  Lord  God  of  hosts — 
So  he  drove  out  the  man. 

Eut  there  was  a  great  deal  more  of  judgment  in  the 
expulsion  than  this.     Principally   it  was  judgment,   in 
that  it  was  the  final  shutting  out  of  the  man,   and  in 
him,  as  we  are  too  well  assured,  of  man,  our  whole  race 
fallen,  from  all  possibility  of  life  by  the  law,— by  the 
fi.rst  covenant   of  the   law.     For   God  had  entered  into 
covenant  with   man.     God  who,    apart  from  some  such 
transaction,  could  be  under  no  kind  of  obligation  to  his 
own  creature,  had  condescended  to  bring  himself  under 
the   obligation   of  a  covenant, — of  a   promise,    on  con- 
dition only  of  that   obedience   which  is  alike  the  duty 
and  the  privilege  of  the  creature  in  all  possible  circum- 
stances— a  promise  of  everlasting  life  and  blessedness,  of 
which  the  tree  of  life  in  the  midst  of  the  garden  was,  as  it 
were,  the  sacramental  symbol  and  pledge,  giving  to  man 
the  happy  assurance,   as  often  as  he  ate  of  it,   of  the 
glorious,  covenanted,   higher,   indestructible   life,    which 
was  to  be  the  fruit  and  reward  of  his  loyal  obedience. 
But  man  transgressed  the  covenant,— violated  the   law, 
and,  instead  of  the  promised  life,  incurred  the  terrible 
death  of  that  sentence,  '*  In  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof, 
dying  thou  shalt  die."     And  now  I  pray  you  to  observe 
the  bearing  of  the   ''driving   forth  of  the  man,"  as  it 
comes  out  in  the  remarkable  words  of  the  twenty-second 
verse,    *'And  the   Lord  God  said.   Behold,  the  man  is 
become  as  one  of  us" — as,  at  least,  he  hath  aspired  to 
think— '* to  know  good  and  evil:  and  now,  lest  he  put 


THE  EXrULSIOX — ITS  CnAKACTER  AND  LESSONS. 

forth  his  haiul,  and  take  also  of  the  troo  of  life" — in  whic 


er 


no  longer  he  hath  any  part — **  and  eat  and  live  for  ev 
— as  it  -^-ere,  and  according  to  the  original  import  and 
character  of  that  divine  pledge — ''therefore  the  Lord 
God  sent  him  forth  from  the  garden  of  Edon.  .  .  . 
So  he  drove  out  the  man^  It  tells  of  the  forfeiture  of 
the  whole  covenanted  life.  He  drove  the  man  out  now 
even  from  the  ver^^  sj'mbol  of  the  life.  It  was  a  holy, 
judicial  expulsion  from  all  possibility  of  eternal  life  by 
the  first  covenant,  by  all  deeds  of  the  law,  by  anything 
which  man  can  himself  do.  The  entire  verse  is  in  these 
words,  "  So  he  drove  out  the  man  :  and  he  placed  at  the 
east  of  the  garden  of  Eden  cherubim,  and  a  flaming  sword 
which  turned  every  way,  to  keep  the  way  of  the  tree  of 
life." 

II.  But  now,  if  there  was  judgment  thus,  many  waj^s, 
in  the  "  driving  out  of  the  man,"  there  was  also  glorious 
MERCY  in  it — not  simply  notwithstanding  of  it,  but  in  it — 
mercy  along  with  the  judgment,  and  divinely  rejoicing 
against  the  judgment.  To  this  second  view  of  the  text 
I  am  anxious  a  little  more  particularly  to  invite  your 
attention. 

And  here  the  foundation  of  all  lies  in  the  promise  of 
that  new  covenant  which  already,  previous  to  the  expul- 
sion, had  been  revealed  to  man — which  covenant,  made 
properly  with  the  eternal  Son,  the  second  Adam,  the  Lord 
from  heaven,  from  everlasting,  had  been  made  known  to  our 
first  parents  immediately  on  the  fall, — in  an  astonisliing 
interview  held  by  the  Lord  God  with  them,  an  interview 
which,  on  a  first  view  of  it,  might  seem  to  have  been  but 
the  summoning  of  criminals  to  the  bar,  to  receive  their 
doom.  But  on  a  closer  examination  it  turns  out  that, 
while  it  tvas  such,  indeed,  in  one  aspect  of  it,  in  another 
and  still  deeper  it  was  glorious  mercy  throughout,  as  well 
as  judgment, — mercy  strangely  embedded  in  tlie  very 
heart  of  judgment,  and  destined,  in  respect  of  all  the  heirs 


4  THE  EXPULSION — ITS  CnARACTEK  AND  LESSONS. 

of  this  second  covenant,  everlastingly  to  rejoice  against 
judgment.  Into  the  details  of  the  interview,  however,  I 
do  not  now  enter.  Limiting  ourselves  to  the  text,  and 
only  bearing  in  mind  that  the  promise  had  been  already 
given,  of  the  Seed  of  the  woman,  that  should  bruise  the 
head  of  the  serpent,  and  so  effect  a  glorious  victory  for 
our  fallen  family  over  Satan,  and  sin  with  its  whole  fearful 
effects  and  consequences,  observe  now  the  immense,  varied 
mercy  of  the  ''  driving  out  of  the  man." 

1.  For,  first,  what  was  it  but  the  gracious  shutting  of  him 
out  from  now  delusive,  vain,  and  ruinous  hopes  of  life  hj  the 
way  of  the  law — a  thing  this  of  the  very  last  moment  in 
reference  to  any  possibility  of  his  being  saved  by  grace. 
"He  drove  out  the  man,  and  placed  at  the  east  of  the 
garden  of  Eden  cherubim,  and  a  flaming  sword  which 
turned  every  way,  to  keep  the  way  of  the  tree  of  life."  In 
one  or  other  of  two  cases,  it  had,  indeed,  been  no  mercy  to 
shut  the  man  out  from  the  hope  of  life  by  the  law  :  either 
first,  if  there  had  still  remained  a  possibility  of  life  by  that 
way;  or,  second,  if  there  had  been  no  other  revealed 
method  of  life  and  salvation.  In  this  latter  case,  better 
certainly  to  be  let  dream  on,  and  somewhat  pleasantly 
deceive  and  delude  oneself  with  hope,  than  be  awakened 
from  sleep  only  to  exchange  dreams  for  hopeless  despair. 
Or  in  the  other  case, — if  there  had  been  still  a  possibility 
of  life  by  the  law,  by  man's  own  obedience  to  Grod,  it  had 
been  of  course  no  mercy  to  shut  him  out  from  cherishing 
the  hope  of  it  by  that  way.  But  then,  so  very  far  other- 
wise was  it, — so  very  far  from  our  obedience  being 
now  of  the  slightest  avail  for  obtaining  life,  the  violated 
law,  on  the  contrary,  consigns  us  to  the  death  which  is 
the  wages  of  sin,  as  it  is  written,  "  The  law  worketh 
wrath — By  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin — Whatsoever 
things  the  law  saith,  it  saith  to  them  who  are  under  the 
law ;  that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped,  and  all  the  world 
become   guilty   before  God — Cursed  is   every  one    that 


THE  EXrULSIOX — ITS  CIIARACTER  AND  LESSOXS.  5 

contlnuetli  not  in  all  things  vrliich  are  written  in  the  book 
of  the  law  to  do  them — By  the  deeds  of  the  law  there 
shall  no  flesh  bo  justified  in  his  sight — I  was  alive  with- 
out the  law  once  :  but  when  tlie  commandment  came,  sin 
revived  and  I  died ;  and  the  commandment  which  was 
ordained  to  life  I  found  to  be  unto  death." 

Oh,  so  long  as  men  cling  to  false  and  delusive  hopes 
of  life  by  a  law  which  in  reality  condemns  them  to  eternal 
death, — so  long  as  they  are  not  driven  out  from  all  such 
hopes, — in  vain  sliall  any  method  of  life  be  pressed  upon 
them,  wretched,  indeed,  they,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and 
blind,  and  naked,  but  in  their  own  eyes  rich,  and  increased 
with  goods,  and  having  need  of  nothing.  See  what  mercy 
was  in  that  word,  *'Lest  he  put  forth  his  hand  and  take 
of  the  tree  of  life,  ...  50  he  drove  out  the  man."  What 
mercy  in  the  shutting  of  him  out  now  from  even  the  symbol 
of  life  in  the  broken  covenant,  since  the  reality  of  life 
could  no  longer  be  found  in  connection  with  the  symbol! 
Now  the  sign  should  have  been  but  a  delusive  phantom ; 
and  it  was  just  as  if  the  Lord  had  said,  That  he  may  be  in 
mercy  shut  out  from  all  such  ruinous  hopes  as  the  symbol 
might  beget,  I  will  drive  him  out  even  from  the  view 
of  it—"  therefore  the  Lord  Grod  sent  him  forth  from,  the 
garden  of  Eden  ...  he  drove  out  the  man  ;  and  he 
placed  at  the  east  of  the  garden,  cherubim,  and  a  flaming 
sword  which  turned  every  way,  to  keep  the  way  of  tlie 
tree  of  life." 

How  often  do  we  see  men  among  us,  lot  me  say,  utter 
strangers  to  Christ,  still  lying  under  the  sentence  of 
death  in  the  law,  yet  sitting  down  at  communion  tables, 
only  to  delude  themselves  with  the  signs  and  symbols  of 
life,  apart  altogether  from  the  truth  and  reality  of  it  ! 
Would  God  they  were  but  driven  out  by  any  means  into 
despair  of  life  by  all  obedience  of  their  own  !  Some 
man,  whose  affairs  are  in  a  state  of  inextricable  disorder, 
and  who  must  one  day  become  bankrupt,  contrives,  by 


6  THE  EXPULSION— ITS  CHAEACTER  AND  LESSONS. 

means  of  dislionourable  concealments,  to  put  off  the  evil 
day,  and  go  on  for  a  season,  things  of  course  growing 
every  day  worse  with  him.  It  were  mercy  to  such  a 
man  at  once  to  plunge  him  so  much  deeper  into  diffi- 
culties, that  he  should  have  no  alternative  but  to  lay 
his  ruin  open,  and  declare  himself  insolvent.  What 
mercy,  I  repeat,  to  the  man,  was  the  driving  of  him  out 
from  all  hopes  of  life  by  a  covenant  which  now  could 
avail  only  for  his  destruction  I  What  mercy  that  flaming- 
sword  placed  at  the  east  of  the  garden,  debarring  his 
entrance  any  more  where  life  no  more  was  to  be  found — 
telling  of  wrath,  indeed,  but  so  telling  graciously  of  it,  as 
to  shut  out  from  now  vain  and  destructive  hopes,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  shut  in  to  the  promise  of  the  new  covenant 
of  grace,  upon  the  other ! 

2.  But  thus  I  observe,  secondly,  that  the  driving  out  of 
the  man  was  rich  mercy,  in  that  it  was  in  effect  the  shutting 
of  him  now  also  in  to  Christ,  the  one  name  given  under 
heaven  among  men  fallen  whereby  we  must  be  saved.  I 
have  observed  already  that,  on  supposition  of  no  other 
way  of  life  having  been  revealed  besides  the  law,  it  had 
been  better  to  be  let  alone,  and  not  to  be  driven  out  before 
the  time  from  even  delusive  dreams  of  life.  But,  blessed 
be  God,  as  the  Seed  of  the  woman  had  been  proclaimed 
before  this  hour  to  our  first  parents,  so  we  are  now  per- 
mitted to  listen  to  such  glorious  words  as  these  :  "I  am 
the  resurrection  and  the  life — I  am  the  way,  and  the 
truth,  and  the  life ;  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but 
by  me — We  have  seen,  and  do  testify,  that  the  Father 
sent  the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world — I  am  the 
door ;  by  me,  if  any  man  enter  in,  he  shall  be  saved,  and 
shall  go  in  and  out,  and  find  pasture — The  life  was 
manifested,  and  we  have  seen  it,  and  bear  witness,  and 
shew  unto  you  that  eternal  life,  which  was  with  the  Father, 
and  was  manifested  unto  us."  What  mercy  to  be  now, 
even  in  the  most  terrible  ways,  driven  forth  from  lying 


THE  EXi'ULSIOX — ITS  CIIAllACTEU  AND  LESSONS.  7 

refuges,  and  sliut  up  to  sucli  a  Saviour,  and  such  a  Salva- 
tion! "He  drove  out  the  man" — as  if  he  had  said  to 
him  in  the  act,  No  longer  thou  canst  find  life  now  in 
that  first  paradise  ;  thou  mayest  find  it,  driven  from  it, 
and  from  all  hopes  of  life  connected  with  it,  in  Him  who 
shall  bruise  the  head  of  tlie  serpent,  and  open  a  new  and 
living  way  to  a  yet  better  tree  of  life  in  the  midst  of  the 
paradise  of  God  ! 

Thus  is  it  tliat  there  is  not  even  one  among  all  the 
darkest  and  most  terrible  things  written  in  the  Scriptures, 
which  has  not  an  aspect  of  richest  mercy  in  it,  as  designed 
and  fitted  to  drive  us  out  of  our  security,  our  fatal  slum- 
bers, our  delusive  hopes,  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  shut  us 
in,  on  the  other,  to  the  Lamb  of  God, — to  Him  who  came 
by  water  and  blood,  even  Jesus  Christ,  not  by  water  only, 
but  by  water  and  blood.  Do  you  discern  the  flaming 
sword  turning  every  way  in  such  words  as  these — "God 
is  jealous,  and  the  Lord  revengeth  ;  the  Lord  revengeth, 
and  is  furious — Their  worm  dietli  not,  and  their  fire 
is  not  quenched  —  Dejjart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  iuto 
everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels — 
Mount  Sinai  was  altogether  on  a  smoke,  because  the 
Lord  descended  upon  it  in  fire ;  and  the  smoke  tliereof 
ascended  as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace,  and  the  whole  mount 
quaked  greatly"?  But  this  sword,  shutting  you  out 
from  all  hopes  of  life  by  the  law,  is  but  the  shutting  of  you 
up  and  in  to  the  faith  of  Him  who  was  made  under  the 
law,  made  a  curse, — wlio  bared  his  bosom  to  tlie  stroke 
of  that  very  sword,  the  surety  and  substitute  of  tlie  guilty, 
while  the  eternal  Father  said.  Awake,  0  sword,  against 
my  shepherd,  and  against  the  man  that  is  my  fellow, 
eaith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  smite  the  shepherd — so  that 
now  the  voice  is  heard,  "  I  am  come  that  they  might 
have  life,  and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly — 
Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being 
made  a  curse  for  us — God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he 


8  THE  EXPULSION — ITS  CHAEACTER  AND  LESSORS. 

gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 

3.  But  we  have  not  yet  reached  by  any  means  the  full 
mercy  which  was  in  the  driving  out  of  the  man.  So  far 
we  have  seen  its  gracious  design  and  tendency,  more 
doctrinally,  as  it  were,  under  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  shut  out  from  delusive  hopes  of  life,  and  shut  in  to 
Him  who  is  the  eternal  life, — the  way,  and  the  truth,  and 
the  life.  And  this  truly  was  of  unspeakable  importance. 
How  very  large  a  portion  of  the  Bible  bears  one  way  or 
other  towards  this  double  design !  It  might  be  said  to  be 
the  grand  scope  and  drift  of  it,  doctrinally,  from  first  to 
last.  But  then,  the  text  opens  up  at  least  another  class  of 
means  altogether  for  effecting  the  design.  For,  practically, 
what  is  it  that  to  a  very  large  extent  holds  us  back  from 
Christ,  and  prevails  with  us  to  leave  Him  and  his  salva- 
tion neglected  and  despised  ?  Is  it  not  some  dream  of 
finding  a  portion,  a  good,  a  happiness,  in  this  world — in 
the  lust  of  the  flesh,  or  the  lust  of  the  eye,  or  the  pride  of 
life — for  the  sake  of  which  we  are  prepared  to  run  the 
risk  of  losing  our  never-dying  souls  ?  But  now  behold  the 
still  further  import  of  the  driving  out  of  the  man.  See 
how  it  was  just  a  kind  of  summary,  in  effect,  of  that 
whole  providential  discipline  which  the  Lord  is  administer- 
ing from  age  to  age  in  our  fallen  world,  in  connection 
with  his  Word,  towards  the  same  great  end  of  driving  us 
out  from  our  vain  delusive  hopes  of  life  and  blessedness, 
on  the  one  side,  and  shutting  us  in  to  the  faith  and  love 
and  obedience  and  enjoyment  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
upon  the  other. 

For  observe,  first,  what  it  was  the  Lord  drove  out  the 
-rnscn  from.  It  was  from  the  paradise  of  earth,  as  from  a 
scene  now  no  longer  suited  to  his  state, — which,  how- 
ever profitable  as  well  as  pleasant  before,  when  all  earthly 
comforts  did  but  raise  his  soul  in  love  and  thankfulness 
to  God,  could  now  have  proved  but    a  deadly  snare  to 


THE  EXPULSION — ITS  CnAIlAClER  AND  LESSORS.  0 

him,— a  sliow  of  heaven  without  the  reality  of  it,  in 
all  possible  forms  presenting  to  his  now  weakened  and 
broken  soul  the  very  temptations  to  which  he  had  at  the 
first  fallen  a  prey,  when  **  the  woman  saw  that  the  tree 
was  good  for  food,  and  tliat  it  was  pleasant  to  the  eyes, 
and  a  tree  to  bo  desired  to  make  one  wise;  ancl  she  took 
of  the  fruit  thereof,  and  did  eat,  and  gave  also  to  her  hus- 
band with  her,  and  he  did  eat."  HencOj  in  rich  mercy  as 
well  as  judgment,  *'  he  drove  out  the  man  " — as  if  lie 
should  say.  Outside  that  paradise  of  earth,  away  from  its 
delights,  now  unfit  for  thee,  thou  may  est  bo  shut  in  to 
desire  a  better  country,  even  an  heavenly.  And  just  thus 
it  is  that  the  Lord  is  driving  forth  his  children  still  from 
their  Edens  of  earth,  withering  their  gourds,  teaching 
them  painfully  that 

"  They  build  too  low  who  build  beneath  the  skies," — 
in  driving:  them  out,  onlv  shuttincr  them  in  to  TTim  who  is 
their  alone  life,    and  in  whom  thc}^  are  yet  to  reach  a 
batter  Eden  than  the  primeval  one. 

But  what,  further,  did  God  drive  out  the  man  to  ? 
To  till  the  ground  now  by  the  hard  toil  of  his  hands 
and  the  sweat  of  his  brow — "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face 
shalt  thou  eat  bread,  till  thou  return  unto  the  ground." 
And,  in  addition,  to  endure  many  a  hardship  and  pro- 
found sorrow — "Cursed  is  the  ground  for  thy  sake,  in 
sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the  days  of  thy  life  :  thorns 
also  and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee."  And 
"unto  the  woman  he  said,  I  will  greatly  multiply  thy 
sorrow  and  thy  conception ;  in  sorrow  thou  shalt  bring 
forth  children."  iVh,  it  is  judgment,  indeed,  but  at  least 
as  much,  mercy.  "Driven  out"  thus  we  are  to  a  lot  of 
toil  and  sorrow.  I3ut  it  is  a  lot  only  the  more  in 
keeping,  because  sorrowful,  with  our  state  here,  as  at  the 
best  sorrowfully  sinful — ever  ready  we,  even  after  having 
tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious,  to  depart  from  the 
living   God,   and  take  up  our  rest  here,  and  put  some 


10  THi:  EXPULSION — ITS  CIIAEACTEPt  AND  LESSONS. 

idol  in  the  place  of  God,  and  worship  the  creature 
more  than  the  Creator,  and  prefer  the  things  which  are 
seen  and  temporal  to  the  things  unseen  and  eternal. 
How  merciful  the  ''driving  out  of  the  man"!  How 
wisely  gracious  the  shutting  of  him  up,  not  only  more 
doctrinally  as  it  were,  but  in  all  possible  ways  also 
practically  and  providentially, — not  only  by  the  Word, 
but  by  the  trials  and  changes  and  fast  approaching 
death  of  this  world,  to  lay  hold  of  and  cling  to  the  hope 
set  before  him, — to  cleave  with  purpose  of  heart  to  the 
Eesurrection  and  the  Life !  "What,  in  this  last  aspect  of 
it,  was  the  driving  out  of  the  man  but  the  opening  of 
that  whole  course  of  providential  dealing  of  which  we 
read  in  numberless  words  such  as  these :  "  I  will  bring 
the  third  part  through  the  fire,  and  will  reiine  them  as 
silver  is  refined,  and  will  try  them  as  gohl  is  tried — 
Whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every 
son  whom  he  receiveth — I  will  hedge  up  thy-  way  with 
thorns,  and  will  make  a  wall,  that  she  shall  not  find  her 
paths — I  M'ill  allure  her,  and  bring  her  into  the  wilder- 
ness, and  will  sj)eak  comfortably  unto  her — Blessed  is 
the  man  whom  thou  chastenest,  0  Lord,  and  teachest 
him  out  of  thy  law — Here  we  have  no  continuing  city, 
but  we  seek  one  to  come — Eefuge  failed  me  :  I  cried 
imto  thee,  0  Lord ;  I  said,  Thou  art  my  refuge^  and  my 
portion  in  the  land  of  the  living — Although  the  fig-tree 
shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  vines ;  the 
labour  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall  yield  no 
meat ;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  ofi'  from  the  fold,  and  there 
shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls ;  yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the 
Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation."  JSo  he  drove 
out  the  man. 

In  closing,  let  me  address  a  sentence  or  two  to  those 
among  us  who  are  still  under  the  first  broken  covenant  of 
the  law,  and  thus  necessarily  under  its  curse,  as  Paul 
writes,  ''  As  many  as  are  of  the  works  of  the  law  are  under 


TUE  EXPULSION ITS  CIIAKACTEK  AND  LESSONS.  11 

the  curse  ;  for  it  is  written,  Cursed  is  every  one  that  con- 
tiuueth  not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  book  of 
the  law  to  do  them."  Oh,  that  covenant,  that  law,  cannot 
save  you.  On  the  contrary,  it  condemns  and  consigns 
3'ou  to  eternal  death.  It  is  but  a  sinking  ship  you  are  in. 
Fain  you  would  abide  in  it  because  the  idols  and  lusts  you 
love  are  there.  But  soon  they  and  you  must  go  together 
to  the  bottom.  Escape  for  thy  life.  All  that  a  man  hath 
will  he  give  for  his  life — tlds  is  the  life  of  thy  never- 
dying  soul.  What  shall  it  profit  thee,  if  thou  gain  the 
whole  world,  and  lose  thyself,  tliy  soul  ?  Be  content  to  be 
driven  out  to  Christ,  too  thankful  to  find  such  a  refuge 
prepared  for  thee.  As  to  trials,  you  must  have  them 
anyhow.  No  longer  we  are  in  an  Eden  now,  whether 
with  Christ  or  without  Him.  But  how  terrible  to  miss 
both  paradises !  How  fearful  to  have  been  driven  out 
from  the  earthly  one  to  the  toils  and  trials  of  the  wilder- 
ness, and  to  miss  the  gracious  design  too,  miss  the  better 
country,  miss  Christ,  and  awake  in  the  second  death  ! 
Awake  now,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead, 
and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
God,  Behold,  I  lay  in  Zion  for  a  foundation  a  stone,  a 
tried  stone,  a  precious  corner-stone,  a  sure  foundation ;  ho 
that  believeth  on  him  shall  not  be  confounded. 

Believers  on  Christ,  heirs  of  the  covenant  sealed  in  His 
blood,  all  ye  that  have  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  on  the  liopo 
set  before  j'ou,  see  that  you  live  by  faith,  remembering 
what  is  written,  "  If  by  grace,  then  it  is  no  more  of  works, 
otherwise  grace  is  no  more  grace — Ye  are  become  dead 
to  the  law  by  the  body  of  Christ,  that  ye  should  be  married 
to  another,  even  to  Him  who  is  raised  from  the  dead,  that 
we  should  bring  forth  fruit  unto  God."  Come  up  fiom 
the  wilderness  leaning  on  the  Beloved.  Expect  no  Eden 
upon  earth.  Arise  and  depart,  for  this  is  not  your 
rest,  it  is  polluted.  Lay  your  account  with  trials  and 
afflictions.      See  judgment,  sin,  in  them.      But  see  also 


12  TKE  EXrULSION — ITS  CIIAEACTEE,  AND  LESSONS. 

rich  mercy.  Say  with.  David,  I  will  sing  of  mercy  and 
of  judgment.  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  af- 
flicted, that  I  might  learn  thy  statutes.  And  anticipate 
the  holy,  everlasting  blessedness  of  which  it  is  written, 
"  He  shewed  me  a  pure  river  of  water  of  life,  clear  as 
crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the 
Lamb.     In  the  midst  of  the  street  of  it,  and  on  either  side 

of  the  river,  was  there  the  tree  of  life And  there 

shall  be  no  more  curse  :  but  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the 
Lamb  shall  be  in  it ;  and  his  servants  shall  serve  him ; 
and  they  shall  see  his  face ;  and  his  name  shall  be  in  their 
foreheads." 


n. 

THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS  BROUGHT  FORTH  TO  THE  TEORLE. 

*'  llien  came  Jesus  forth,  wearing  the  crov:n  of  thorns, 
and  the  purple  robe.  And  Pilate  saith  unto  them,  Behold 
the  man.'" — John  xix.  5. 

It  was  the  morning  of  tlie  crucifixion  day.  The  pre- 
vious niglit  had  been  an  astonishing  one  truly — tlie  guest- 
chamber,  the  last  supper,  the  discourses,  the  prayers ; 
the  garden,  with  its  mysterious  agonies  ;  the  apprehen- 
sion of  the  Saviour  there;  the  hurrying  of  him  bound 
from  tribunal  to  tribunal, — the  ecclesiastical  one  first, 
Annas,  and  Caiaphas  the  high  priest;  the  sentence  of 
death  pronounced  in  liis  palace,  but  which  the  Jews  had 
not  the  power  to  execute ;  and  then,  the  judgment  hall  of 
Pilate  the  governor. 

Jesus  was  there,  let  it  be  observed, — in  Pilate's  judg- 
ment-hall, at  the  opening  of  this  chapter.  The  Jews 
were  not  there ;  for,  in  the  twenty-eighth  verse  of  the 
previous  chapter,  we  read,  ''Then  led  they  Jesus  from 
Caiaphas  unto  the  hall  of  judgment :  and  it  was  early ; 
and  they  themselves  went  not  into  the  judgment-hall,  lest 
they  should  be  defiled" — these  holt/  men,  by  touching 
a  heathen  floor! — "but  tliat  they  might  eat  the  pass- 
over."  And  now,  at  the  hour  of  our  text,  Pilate  has 
already  "taken  Jesus,"  as  wo  read  at  tlie  beginning  of 
the  chapter,  "  and  scourged  him  ;  and  the  soldiers  have 
platted  a  crown  of  thorns,  and  put  it  on  his  head,  and  put 
on  him  a  purple  robe,  and  said.  Hail,  King  of  the  Jews  ! 
and  they  have  smitten  him  with  their  hands."     Pilate^ 


1  4  THE  ilAN  OF  SOEEOWS 

however,  was  desirous  to  effect  his  release.  He  knew 
the  entire  charge  of  treason  against  him  to  be  a  baseless 
one,  belied  by  the  whole  tenor  of  his  actions  and  life. 
And  although  he  had  not  the  courage  and  the  justice  to 
interpose  his  authority  for  his  release,  if  the  Jews  should 
persist  in  their  demand  for  his  crucifixion,  yet  he  would 
do  every  thing  for  the  purpose  short  of  that.  And  there 
can  be  very  little  doubt  that  even  the  scourging,  while  it  was 
j)artly  the  usual  preparatory  step  before  the  crucifying  of 
a  criminal,  had  also  in  part  been  inflicted  by  Pilate  in  the 
hope  of  appeasing  the  anger  of  the  Jews,  and  satisfying 
their  clamours — "  Pilate  therefore  went  forth  again,"  says 
the  Evangelist  (4th  ver.),  '*  and  saith  unto  them,  Behold, 
I  bring  him  forth  to  you,  that  ye  may  know  that  I  find 
no  fault  in  him.     Then  came  Jesus  forth,  wearing  the 

CROWN  OF  THORNS,  AND  THE  PURPLE  ROBE.  AnD  PiLATE 
SAITH   UNTO    THEM,    BeHOLD    THE    MAN  ! "       But  nOW  let   US 

fix  our  thoughts  on  these  deeply  solemn  words,  in  the  two 
parts,  intimately  connected,  of  which  they  consist. 

I.  And  first,  Jesus  coming  forth,  wearing  the  crown  of 
thorns,  and  the  'purple  role. 

The  crown,  the  purple  robe.  They  tell  so  far  of  the 
King.  Por  although  it  was  a  crown  of  thorns,  and  a 
purple  robe  of  mockery,  and  a  voice  of  derision.  Hail,  King 
of  the  Jews,  yet  the  mockery  was  founded  on  the  claim 
to  a  Kingdom — on  that  claim,  ''  Thou  sayest  that  I  am 
a  King  —  My  Kingdom  is  not  of  this  world."  And 
besides,  what  had  any  other  crown  been  on  that  blessed 
head, — what  had  been  any  such  crown,  or  purple  robe,  on 
the  Lord  Jesus,  as  the  kings  of  this  world  are  accustomed 
to  wear,  but  a  mockery,  methinks,  still  deeper,  of  a  King- 
dom like  His — of  the  majesty  of  the  King  of  kings,  and 
Lord  of  lords  ?  And,  above  all,  it  is  to  be  recollected  as 
to  these  strange  insignia  of  royalty,  that  suffering  and 
ignominy  were  laj'ing  the  basis,  were  even  now  laying  the 
foundations,  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  as  it  is  written, 


BKorcnT  Fonxn  to  the  PEorLE.  15 

"  He  humbled  liimsolf,  and  becamo  obedient  nnto  death, 
even  tlio  deatli  of  llio  cross ;  ichcrcfore  God  also  hath 
liighly  exalted  hini."  Ah,  the  crown  of  thorns  and  the 
robe  of  mockeiy  were  the  littest  insig-nia,  after  all,  and  at 
such  an  hour  especially,  of  His  "^ondrous  dominion  ! 

But  thus  3-0U  will  easily  perceive  that,  if  wo  have  the 
King  here,  still  more  have  we  \\\q  Priest,  the  glorious 
High  Priest  of  the  Church.  !Aranifestly  the  theme  here 
is  mainly  the  sufferings  of  that  Il'ujh  Priest,  now  conducting 
him  on  by  rapid  steps  to  his  crown, — to  the  glory  of  the 
everlasting  Mediatorial  kingdom.  Let  us,  accordingly,  try 
to  look  at  these  sufferings  of  his  for  a  little,  as  they  come 
out  to  view  under  the  double  aspect  of  pam  and  shame, 
— the  crown  of  thorns,  and  the  j)urple  robe  of  mockery — 
pain,  shame. 

1.  And  first,  2^ain.  Por  it  is  a  crown  of  thorns.  They  have 
platted  elaborately  a  crown  of  sharp  thorns,  and  j^ut  it  on 
his  head.  Of  course,  if  their  object  had  only  been  to 
deride  him,  they  might  have  accortiplished  that  even  better, 
by  placing  on  his  head  a  crown  of  straw.  But  there  was 
rage,  hatred,  in  their  breasts,  as  well  as  contempt.  AVhile 
they  put  the  purple  robe  on  him,  and  a  reed,  as  the  other 
Evangelists  tell  us,  in  his  right  hand  for  a  mock  sceptre, 
and  bent  the  knee  in  derision  before  him,  saying,  Hail, 
King  of  the  Jews,  they  "smote  him  also  with  their  hands;" 
and  having  prepared,  platted  elaborately,  as  I  said,  this 
crown  of  thorns,  they  placed  it  on  his  head,  to  torture 
his  body  with  pain  as  well  as  his  soul  with  mockery. 
And,  what  is  w^ell  worthy  to  be  noted,  the  evangelists 
Matthew  and  Mark  tell  us  that  it  was  on  the  head  they 
struck  him — on  the  head,  using  for  the  purpose  the  reed 
■which  they  had  first  placed  in  his  right  hand,  doubtless 
with  the  design  of  forcing  down  the  points  of  the  thorns 
into  his  temples  and  forehead,  and  so  occasioning  the 
more  severe  pain,  with  effusion  of  blood,  to  the  body 
which  already  was  bleeding  from  the  laslies  of  the  scourG;e. 


16  THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS 

But  I  pray  you  to  remember  that  every  incident  in  tlie 
cross, — in  the  last  sufferings  of  Emmanuel,  was  of  special 
Divine  ordering.  And  so,  beyond  doubt,  this  crown  of 
thorns,  of  pain — all  voluntary,  criminal,  vile,  as  it  was  on 
the  part  of  man — was  of  the  special  ordination  of  the 
adorable  God.  Eor  2^ain  is  the  principal  part  of  the  whole 
pimishmeiit  of  sin,  as  it  is  written,  "Depart  from  me,  ye 
cursed,  into  everlasting  fire — Their  worm  dieth  not,  and 
their  fire  is  not  quenched — Send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip 
the  tip  of  his  finger  in  water,  and  cool  my  tongue  ;  for  I 
am  tormented  in  this  flame."  "Well,  but  here  was  the 
great  High  Priest  and  Lamb,  not  wearing  this  crown  of 
thorns  more  truly  than  hearing  our  very  sins,  believers,  at 
that  hour ;  standing,  not  so  much  at  the  bar  of  Pilate,  as 
at  the  bar  of  the  Divine  justice;  arraigned  and  condemned 
there,  because  he  had  been  "made  sin  for  us," — because 
the  Lord,  with  his  own  most  free  consent,  had  "laid  on 
him  the  iniquity  of  us  all."  Oh,  thus  did  it  mysteriously 
befit  and  behove  him — I  speak  it  with  deepest  reverence 
— to  wear  the  crown  of  thorns, — to  give  his  back  to  the 
smiters,  and  his  cheeks  to  them  that  plucked  ofi"  the 
hair. 

Only,  that  we  are  thus  at  once  led  to  regard  the  thorns, 
and  the  smiting,  and  the  scourge, — all  the  pains  of  that 
sacred  body  together,  as  little  more  than  the  ifidices,  the 
afi'ecting  exterior  symbols,  of  a  deeper  pain  and  anguish 
within,  even  that  of  which  we  read,  and  never  weary 
reading,  "  Being  in  an  agony,  he  prayed  more  earnestly; 
and  his  sweat  was  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood  falling 
down  to  the  ground — My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful, 
even  unto  death ;  tarry  ye  here,  and  watch  with  me — 
Now  is  my  soul  troubled ;  and  what  shall  I  say?  Pather, 
save  me  from  this  hour :  but  for  this  cause  came  I  unto 
this  hour."  Beloved,  we  have  not  reached  the  meaning 
of  the  crown  of  thorns  till  we  have  found  it  there,  "  He 
shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  shall  be  satisfied : 


BKOUGHT  rOllTK  TO  TUE  I'EOPLE.  i-7 

by  his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous  servant  justify  many ; 
for  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities" — Jesus  came  forth  ivear- 
ing  the  crown  of  thorns!  "On  his  head,"  John  writes  in 
the  Apocalypse,  *'wero  many  crowns" — many  croivns. 
Is  there  among  them  all  a  crown  more  glorious  in  the  eyes 
of  the  whole  ransomed  Church,  and  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Saviour  himself,  than  this  one  of  thorns  ?  Not,  certainly, 
that  there  is  or  can  be  any  glory  in  such  a  crown  consid- 
ered in  itself.  But,  somewhat  as  in  music  the  divinest 
harmonies  are  those  brought  out  of  dissonances  resolved, 
so  does  this  crown  aj)pear  very  glorious,  lovely,  when 
resolved,  so  to  speak,  in  its  issues  and  designs,  *'AVith  his 
stripes  we  are  healed — We  see  Jesus,  who  for  the  suffer- 
ing of  death  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels, 
crowned  with  glory  and  honour — He  redeemed  us  from 
the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us."  All- 
glorious  is  this  crown  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  ransomed 
Church — as  witness  Moses  and  Elias  singling  out  the  cruel 
*' decease  accomplished  at  Jerusalem,"  for  their  theme  of 
converse  on  the  Mount :  or  witness  it  the  central  theme  of 
the  hallelujahs  of  heaven,  "  AVorthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain,"  and  of  the  Church's  deepest  communion  upon 
earth,  '*  Ye  do  shew  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come."  And 
as  for  the  Saviour's  own  estimate  of  this  crown,  behold 
him  bringing  up  from  the  grave  with  him  the  "  print 
of  the  nails  "  uneffaced, — the  uneffaced  marks  of  the 
same  cruel  death,  and  carrying  them  with  him  to  the 
heaven  of  heavens,  "a  Lamb,  as  it  had  been  slain,  in 
the  midst  of  the  throne  "  !  ''  Jesus  came  forth,"  says  our 
text,  "  came  forth,"  most  voluntarily — no  kind  of  compul- 
sion needed.  Unashamed,  yea,  glorying  in  his  sufferings 
for  our  sake,  ''Jesus  came  forth,  wearing  the  crown  of 
thorns,  and  the  purple  robe." 

2.  But  that  is  the  other  element  in  the  sufferings  here, 
shame — the  crown  of  thorns  and  the  i)urple  role  of  mochery. 
The  same  distinction  in  the  elements  of  suffering  we  have 


18  THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS 

m  tlie  great  words,  *'  He  endured  the  cross,  despising  tlie 
shame" — so  here,  the  crown  of  thorns,  and  the  purple  robe 
— the  shame.  For,  sin,  my  dear  hearers,  is  a  shameful  thing 
also,  ignominious  as  well  as  accursed,  base  as  well  as  evil 
and  bitter.  It  is  an  affront,  an  infamy,  as  well  as  a  crime, 
a  rebellion.  It  casts  foul  indignity  on  the  blessed  God. 
And  hence  an  essential  part  of  the  punishment  of  it  is  disgrace^ 
shame — ah,  those  are  terrible  words  in  the  book  of  Daniel, 
*'  Many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall 
awake. . .  .to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt."  Well,  it 
thus  mysteriously  befitted  and  behoved  our  Lord  Jesus  to 
take  the  shame  of  our  sin,  as  well  as  the  pain  of  it, — 
to  wear  the  purple  robe  of  mockery,  as  well  as  the 
crown  of  thorns, — to  hide  not  his  face  from  shame  and 
spitting,  as  well  as  to  give  his  back  to  the  smiters,  and  his 
cheeks  to  them  that  plucked  off  the  hair, — to  bear  affront, 
contumely,  derision,  as  weU  as  pain,  torture,  anguish, — 
to  despise  the  shame  as  well  as  endure  the  cross.  "What 
expressions  we  find  as  to  this  in  the  Word !  Thus, 
*' When  they  had  blindfolded  him,  they  struck  him  on  the 
face,  saying.  Prophesy,  who  is  it  that  smote  thee — Herod 
and  his  men  of  war  set  him  at  nought — I  am  a  worm,  and 
no  man  ;  a  reproach  of  men,  and  despised  of  the  people  : 
all  they  that  see  me  laugh  me  to  scorn ;  they  shoot  out  the 
lip,  they  shake  the  head."  Oh,  they  spat  on  him ! 
Mark  says,  **  They  clothed  him  with  purple,  and  platted 
a  crown  of  thorns,  and  put  it  about  his  head,  and 
began  to  salute  him.  Hail,  King  of  the  Jews!  And 
they  smote  him  on  the  head  with  a  reed,  and  did  spit 
upon  him,  and  bowing  their  knees,  worshipped  him.  And 
when  they  had  mocked  him,  they  took  off  the  purple  from 
him,  and  put  his  own  clothes  on  him,  and  led  him  out  to 
crucify  him."  Dear  brethren,  when  the  Lord  Jesus  en- 
dured all  these  elaborated  mockeries  in  silence,  unbroken 
and  unmurmuring  silence,  it  was  indeed  a  transcendent 
patience  and  meekness.     But  it  was  more.     There  was  a 


EllOUGHT  FORTK  TO  THE  TEOrLE.  19 

deeper  element  still  in  that  silence.  lie  well  knew  him- 
self standing  at  a  bar,  another  bar  than  Pilate's,  where  he 
had  nothinrj  to  speak, — nothing  to  answer,  save  the  answer 
of  his  vicarious,  silent,  willingly  endured,  suffering  and 
shame — ''Then  came  Jesus  forth,  wearing  the  crown  of 
thorns,  and  the  purple  robe." 

II.  But  now,  what  is  this  in  the  second  part  of  our 
text  ?  *'  AxD  Pilate  saith  uxto  them,  Behold  the  man  ! " 
Viewing  this  sim23ly  as  the  voice  of  Pilate,  and  with 
reference  to  his  mind,  his  meaning  and  design,  in  the 
uttering  of  it,  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  when 
he  brought  Jesus  forth  to  the  multitude,  and  bade  them 
behold  him  in  the  crown  of  thorns  and  the  pur2)le  robe, 
his  object  was  to  awaken,  if  possible,  some  relentings  of 
compassion  within  their  breasts — as  if  he  should  say. 
Behold  the  man !  you  may  be  satisfied  now  ?  Not  that 
in  Pilate's  own  breast  there  was  any  feeling  much  worthy 
to  be  called  even  pity  for  the  sufferings  of  Jesus.  Here 
that  word  of  the  Messianic  Psalm  held  quite  good,  "  I 
looked  for  some  to  take  jiity,  but  there  was  none :  and 
for  comforters,  but  I  found  none."  Pilate's  feeling  was 
rather  one  of  haughty  disdain,  as  if  he  had  said,  Behold 
him  low  enough  now  surely !  A  royal-like  person  this 
truly, — a  formidable  rival  to  Cajsar !  See  him  in  the  crown 
and  the  purple  robe  !     Behold  the  man  !     Is  it  not  enough 

DOW? 

But  then,  as  I  said  a  little  ago,  every  incident  in  the 
cross,  in  the  last  sufferings  of  Emmanuel,  Avas  of  special 
Divine  ordination.  We  never  think  of  confining  our- 
selves to  Pilate's  mind  in  the  inscription,  for  example, 
which  he  placed  on  the  cross,  ''Jesus  of  Nazareth  the 
King  of  the  Jews."  We  never  think  of  limiting  ourselves 
to  the  mind  of  the  soldier  who  pierced  his  side,  and 
** forthwith  came  thereout  blood  and  water;"  nor  to  the 
mind  of  the  Jews,  when  they  crucified  him  between  the 
thieves,   and  when  they  proclaimed  in  mockery  the  all- 


20  THE  MAN  OF  SOEROWS 

precious  truth,  *' He  saved  others;  himself  he  cannot 
save."  And  so  here,  I  cannot  hesitate  to  regard  this 
voice,  ''Behold  the  man  ! "  taken  in  connection  with  the  un- 
paralleled circumstances,  Jesus  coming  forth  wearing  the 
^rown  of  thorns,  and  the  purple  robe — to  regard  it  as  an 
invitation /ro?/^  God^ — not  merely  bursting  irresistibly,  as  it 
were,  from  those  circumstances,  but  coming  to  us  from  God 
himself — a  Divine  invitation  to  us  all  to  behold,  standing 
at  the  judgment-seat  of  Pilate,  in  the  crown  of  thorns  and 
the  purple  robe,  the  Man  of  whom  all  the  prophets  had 
borne  witness  from  the  beginning ;  the  Man  who  alone  of 
all  that  ever  trod  this  earth  was  sinless,  and  yet  was 
the  pre-eminent  sufferer  on  it,  and  at  God's  immediate 
hand  too ;  the  Man  of  whom  we  find,  as  we  trace  him  back 
over  the  pages  of  the  history,  that  he  was  none  other 
than  the  God-man ;  in  a  word,  ^A^Man  by  pre-eminence, 
the  second  man,  the  substitute  man,  the  head  of  the  new 
creation, — the  representative,  type  also,  model-man,  of 
that  whole  creation — Behold  the  man  ! 

1.  "We  are  invited,  I  say,  to  behold  here  the  Man  of 
whom  all  the  prophets  had  borne  witness  from  the  begin- 
ning— the  man  that  wrestled  with  Jacob  at  Peniel  till 
the  breaking  of  the  day ;  David's  man  of  God's  right 
hand.  Son  of  man  whom  he  made  strong  for  himself; 
Isaiah's  man  of  sorrows — man  who  should  be  as  an  hiding- 
j)lace  from  the  wind,  and  covert  from  the  tempest,  and 
shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land ;  and  Daniel's 
Son  of  man  coming  with  the  clouds  of  heaven ;  and 
Zechariah's  man  whose  name  is  the  Branch ;  and  Micah's 
man  who  shall  be  our  peace  ;  the  Seed  of  the  woman,  the 
Seed  of  Abraham,  around  whom  all  the  prophecies  had 
gathered  from  the  commencement  of  them  to  the  close — 
Behold  the  man  I 

2.  And  we  are  invited  to  behold  here  the  Man  who 
alone  of  all  that  ever  trod  this  earth  was  sinless,  and  yet 
pre-eminent  in  suffering,  and  at  God's  immediate  hand 


BrvOUGHT  FOKTn  TO  THE  TEOrLE.  21 

too.  The  only  sinless  man.  Job  abhors  himself.  Isaiah 
cries  out,  I  am  undone.  Abraham  is  a  sinner  ;  Moses  a 
sinner;  David  is  miserably  sinful.  Jesus  saith,  "The 
prince  of  this  world  coraeth,  and  hath  nothing  in  me." 
Even  the  unrighteous  judge  is  made  to  testify  again 
and  again,  *'I  find  no  fault  in  him — take  ye  him,  and 
crucify  him."  Judas,  who  knew  his  most  secret  and 
sacred  hours  and  places  of  resort,  ''I  have  betrayed  the 
innocent  blood,"  said  he.  The  eternal  Father  bears  him 
witness,  *'  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased."  And  yet  it  ^^leased  that  Father  to  bruise  him, 
and  to  put  him  to  grief.  Oh,  I  think  he  wore  a  crown 
of  thorns  all  his  life  through  !  Behold,  and  see  if  there 
be  any  sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow.  Awake,  0  sword, 
against  my  shepherd,  and  against  the  man  that  is  my 
fellow,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  smite  the  shepherd — 
Behold  the  man ! 

3.  And  we  are  invited  to  behold  here  the  Man  of  whom, 
as  we  trace  him  back  over  the  pages  of  the  history,  we 
find  that  he  was  none  other  than  the  God-man.  We  turn 
but  a  page  back  from  the  text,  and  he  claims  equality  with 
the  Father,  saying,  **  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my 
words ;  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come 
unto  him"  (we,  God  and  I,  will  come  unto  him  ! )  **  and 
make  our  abode  with  him."  A  page  or  two  more,  and 
when  Martha  says  of  her  brother,  ' '  I  know  that  ho  shall 
rise  again  in  the  resurrection  at  the  last  day,"  he  answers, 
' '  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life. "  Another  jiage  or  two, 
"I  and  my  Father  are  one" — "Before  Abrahamwas,  I  am." 
A  few  pages  more,  and,  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  AVord, 
and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  .  .  . 
And  the  Word  was  made  fiesh,  and  dwelt  among  us," 
Emmanuel,  Jehovah — Behold  the  Man  ! 

4.  And  we  are  invited  to  behold  here  the  Man  by  pre- 
eminence, the  second  man,  the  substitute  man, — the  head, 
representative,  type  also,  model  man,  of  the  whole  new 


22  THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS 

creation — Him  of  wliom  it  is  written,  ''  Since  by  man  came 
death,  by  man  came  also  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  :" 
of  whom  it  is  written,  "  There  is  one  God,  and  one  medi- 
ator between  God  and  men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus ;  who 
gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all,  to  be  testified  in  due  time:" 
of  whom  it  is  written,  ''As  by  one  man's  disobedience 
many  were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall 
many  be  made  righteous:"  of  whom  it  is  written,  "The 
first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy ;  the  second  man  is  the 
Lord  from  heaven.  As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also 
that  are  earthy ;  and  as  is  the  heavenly,  such  are  they 
also  that  are  heavenly.  And  as  we  have  borne  the  image 
of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly." 
Substitute,  first,  then  type,  image,  model— Behold  the 
Man ! 

But  then,  as  it  is  not  any  and  every  eye  that  can  behold 
this  glorious  One, — as  it  is  not  the  bodily,  nor  even  the 
natural  mental  eye  that  can  see  Him,  but  the  inward, 
spiritual.  Spirit- opened  eye  alone,  so  neither  is  it  any 
and  every  hind  of  leliolding  of  the  man  to  which  we  are 
invited  here.  But  it  is  the  beholding  of  him  with  lively, 
appropriating  faith  ;  with  profound  self-abasement  j  with 
admiring,  adoring,  obedient  love. 

With  lively,  ajppropriating  faith.  For  when,  not  Pilate 
now,  but  the  eternal  Father  brings  him  forth  to  us, 
wearing  the  crown  of  thorns  and  the  purple  robe,  he 
sets  him  forth  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood, 
— a  hiding  place,  covert  from  the  tempest,  shadow  of 
a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land,  —  the  Lamb  of  God 
which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  And  it  is 
for  each  one  of  us  to  answer,  J/y  hiding  place,  0  Lord, 
my  propitiation.  Lamb,  covert,  rock — I  flee  unto  thee  to 
hide  me  —  I  am  crucified  with  Christ  —  Lord,  to  whom 
shall  I  go?     I  believe,  Lord,  help  thou  mine  unbelief! 

And  we  are  to  behold  the  man  with  'profound  self-abase- 
ment.    Indeed,  when  we  read  of  Pilate's  taking  Jesus  and 


BKOUGHT  FOmn  TO  THE  TEOILE.  23 

scourging  lilm,  and  tlio  soldiers  platting  the  crown  of 
thorns,  and  putting  it  on  his  head,  and  smiting  him  with 
their  hands,  perhaps  the  first  feeling  apt  to  arise  in  our 
breasts  may  be  a  certain  indignation  against  the  more 
immediate  authors  of  his  sufferings.  But  it  is  necessary 
that  this  be  exchanged  for  other  feelings  altogether, — 
for  the  self- abhorrence  of  those  who  know  that  their  own 
iniquities  were  the  true  scourge,  and  crown  of  thorns, 
and  robe  of  mocker}^,  of  that  judgment-hall, — the  self- 
abasement  of  her  who  stood  of  old  at  his  feet  behind  him 
weeping,  and  began  to  wash  his  feet  with  tears,  and 
wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head, — the  godly  sorrow 
of  the  Divine  promise,  * '  They  shall  look  upon  me  whom 
they  have  pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for  him — Ye 
shall  loathe  yourselves  in  your  own  sight,  for  your 
iniquities,  and  for  your  abominations." 

And  he  is  to  be  beheld  by  us  with  admiring,  adoring, 
obedient  love.  Not  with  pity,  not  with  commiseration  any 
more,  "  Daughters  of  Jerusalem,"  said  he,  "  weep  not  for 
me."  Oh,  if  the  indignation  is  to  be  exchanged  for  self- 
abhorrence,  the  pity  must  be  swallowed  up  in  an  adoration 
like  Thomas's,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God," — in  a  love 
like  hers  who,  having  washed  his  feet  with  her  tears,  and 
wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head,  kissed  his  feet, 
and  anointed  them  with  the  ointment, — in  a  holy,  obedient 
love — for  we  see  Jesus,  who  for  the  suffering  of  death  was 
made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  crowned  with  glory  and 
honour,  that  at  his  name  every  knee  should  bow  of  things 
in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and  things  under  the 
earth.  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  0  Lord 
Jesus,  truly  I  am  thy  servant ;  I  am  thy  servant,  and  the 
son  of  thine  handmaid  ;   thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds  ! 

And  thus,  in  conclusion,  I  think  that  the  child  of 
God  may  easily  gather  what  kind  of  improvement 
it  behoves  him  to  make  of  this  whole  subject.  I 
will   now  turn   aside,    let   him   say,   and  see  this  great 


24  THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS 

sight.  Fain,  Lord,  would  I  every  day,  with  contri- 
tion and  faith  and  adoring  affection,  see  thee  wear- 
ing a  crown  of  thorns  that  I  might  be  for  ever 
blessed,  arrayed  in  a  robe  of  mockery  that  I  might  be 
olad  in  a  robe  of  righteousness, — in  the  garments  of 
salvation.  Lord  Jesus,  I  am  thy  sin  (as  Luther  was 
wont  to  speak),  thy  curse,  thy  death,  thy  wrath  of  God,  thy 
hell;  and,  contrariwise,  thou  art  my  righteousness,  my 
life,  my  blessing,  my  grace  of  God,  and  my  heaven. 
Entreat  me  not  to  leave  thee.  Set  me  as  a  seal  upon 
thine  heart,  as  a  seal  upon  thine  arm.  And,  since  thou 
art  the  image  and  model,  as  well  as  substitute,  wilt  thou 
fashion  me  according  to  thine  own  likeness  ?  Teach  me 
to  co])j  after  the  pattern  of  thy  patience,  gentleness, 
meekness,  purity,  love  !  Once  thou  didst  wear  a  crown  of 
thorns  for  me.  Let  me  set  the  crown  of  my  supreme 
affection  on  Thee  henceforth  and  for  ever.  Worthy  is 
the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and 
wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and 
blessing ! 

A  closing  sentence  to  those  who  are  out  of  Christ, 
impenitent  and  unbelieving.  You  read  in  the  verse 
following  the  text,  that  "  when  the  chief  priests  therefore 
and  officers  saw  him,  they  cried  out,  saying.  Crucify  him, 
crucify  him."  So  far,  it  seems,  from  any  relen tings  of 
compassion  having  been  awakened  in  their  breasts,  the 
very  sight  of  the  blood  streaming  down  from  that  counte- 
nance so  marred  more  than  any  man,  only  inflamed 
them  with  a  deeper  rage,  and  they  cried  out.  Crucify 
him.  Perhaps  this  seems  strange  to  you.  Ah!  there 
is  a  stranger  thing  transacted,  I  fear,  in  this  house 
to-day— even  the  crucifying  of  the  Son  of  God  afresh, 
and  putting  him  to  an  open  shame.  As  for  those  imme- 
diate authors  of  the  sufferings  of  Jesus,  they  have  long 
known  whom  they  scorned.  But  now  it  is  no  more 
Pilate  who  bids  you  behold  the  man.     It  is  the  eternal 


BROUGHT  FORTH  TO  THE  TEOrLE.  25 

Father  that  invites  you  to  hcliokl  the  God-man,  the  Just 
One  dying  for  tlio  unjust,  that  he  mig-ht  bring  us  to  God. 
How  can  you  escape,  neglecting  so  groat  salvation  ?  If 
these  things  were  done  in  a  green  tree,  what  shall  be 
done  in  the  dry  ?  If  the  Son  of  God  must  wear  a  crown 
of  thorns,  and  a  robe  of  mockery  and  shame,  for  other 
men's  sins  imputed  to  him,  what  pain  and  shame  must 
be  the  portion  of  tliose  that  shall  die  under  the  weight  of 
a  whole  lifetime  of  sins,  their  own,  unrepented  of  and 
unpardoned,  aggravated  by  the  rejection  of  the  onl}' 
Saviour  ?  Hereafter  shall  ye  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in 
the  clouds  of  heaven.  Behold  he  cometli  with  clouds,  and 
every  eye  shall  see  him,  and  they  also  which  pierced  him  ; 
and  all  kindreds  of  the  earth  shall  wail  because  of  him. 
Behold,  behold  the  man  !  Hasten  into  this  hiding-place, 
this  covert  from  the  tempest.  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God, 
which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  Kiss  the  Son, 
lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the  way,  when  his 
wrath  is  kindled  but  a  little.  Blessed  are  all  they  that 
put  their  trust  in  him. 


ni. 

INCPvEDULITY  KEBUKED. 

^' Jesus  salth  unto  her,  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if 
thou  wouldest  believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  oj 
G^ocZ.?"— JoHNxi.  40. 

The  Lord  Jesus  was  about  to  raise  Lazarus  from  the 
dead.  He  had  arrived  at  his  burying  place,  and  had 
desired  the  bystanders  to  take  away  the  stone  from  the 
mouth  of  it — for  "  it  was  a  cave,  and  a  stone  lay  on  it" 
— when  an  obstacle  was  interposed  from  a  quarter  whence 
it  was  very  little  to  have  been  looked  for.  "Martha," 
we  read  in  the  middle  of  the  thirty-ninth  verse,  ''the  sister 
of  him  that  was  dead,  saith  unto  him.  Lord,  by  this  time 
he  stinketh  :  for  he  hath  been  dead"  (or  rather,  in  the 
grave)  "four  days."  It  was  in  answer  to  this  that  our 
Lord  addressed  Martha  in  the  words  of  the  text,  "Jesus 
saith  unto  her,  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if  thou  wouldest 
believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God?" 

You  observe,  however,  that  our  Lord  points  in  the  text 
to  what  he  had  before  said  to  Martha.  But  when  we  go 
back  to  his  interview  with  her,  recorded  in  the  previous 
part  of  the  chapter,  we  do  not  find  at  least  these  express 
words,  "  If  thou  ivouldest  believe  (Jesus  saith  unto  her, 
Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that),  if  thou  wouldest  believe,  thou 
shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God  ?"  It  is  just  possible  that 
he  might  have  addressed  other  words  to  Martha  besides 
those  which  John  has  related.  I  do  not  think  it  neces- 
sary, however,  to  have   recourse  to  this  supposition.     I 


INCREDULITY  REBUKEl^.  27 

appreliend  tliat  our  Lord's  words  in  the  text  are  just 
the  brief  gathering  up  of  the  sum,— of  the  spirit  and 
soul,  of  all  his  previous  words  to  Martha — that  is  to  say, 
first,  his  reply  to  the  message  of  the  two  sisters,  in  tlio 
fourth  verse  of  the  chapter,  *'  When  Jesus  heard  that,  he 
said,  This  sickness  is  not  unto  death,  but  for  the  glory  of 
God,  that  the  Son  of  God  might  be  glorified  thereby :"  and 
second,  his  words  to  Martha  in  the  twenty-third  verse, 
''Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again:"  and 
finally,  his  glorious  words  to  her  in  the  twenty-fifth  and 
twenty-sixth  verses,  "Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life  :  he  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he 
were  dead  yet  shall  he  live ;  and  whosoever  liveth  and 
believeth  in  me  shall  never  die.  Believest  thou  this?" — 
Said  I  not  loito  thcc,  that,  if  thou  wouldest  believe,  thou 
skouldest  see  the  glory  of  God?  I  think  that  our  Jjord 
there  gathers  up  briefly  the  sum,  the  soul  and  spirit,  of 
all  these  previous  words  ;  and  it  will  perhaps  come  out 
further,  as  we  advance,  with  what  wisdom  and  grace  he 
gathers  it  up  in  this  particular  form,  "  Said  I  not  imto 
thee,  that,  if  thou  wouldest  believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the 
glory  of  God?" 

But  now  let  us  look  a  little  more  narrowly  at  the 
words  in  the  matter  of  them, — in  the  leading  particulars 
of  which  they  consist. 

I.  And  first,  they  tell  of  a  grand  evil  among  us,  the 
source  of  other  and  endless  evils,  together  with  the  appro- 
priate remedy  for  it — the  evil,  namely,  of  losing  sight 
of  the  words  of  Christ,  and  following,  in  place  of  them, 
our  own  fancies,  and  vain  and  incredulous  conjectures, 
and  reasonings,  and  speculations,  *'  Said  I  not  unto  thee  .^" 
In  that  short  word,  Jesus  indicates  at  once  the  evil,  and 
the  remedy. 

(1.)  The  evil.  For  whence  Martha's  difficulty  about 
removing  the  stone  from  her  brother's  grave  ?  She  had 
lost  sight  of  the  words  of  her  Lord,  and  had  fixed  her  eye 


28  INCREDULITY  REBUKED. 

down,  witlidrawn  from  them,  upon  tlie  darkness  and 
corruption  of  the  tomb.  Hence  mournful  unbelief;  and 
hence,  along  with  it,  the  strange  and  unnatural  interpos- 
ing of  an  obstacle  in  the  way  even  of  a  brother's  resurrec- 
tion, "  Martha,  the  sister  of  him  that  was  dead,  saith 
unto  him. "  See  how  John  emphatically  marks  the 
relationship,  as  if  he  should  say,  Strange!  "Martha, 
the  sister  of  him  that  was  dead,  saith  unto  him,  Lord, 
by  this  time  he  stinketh ;  for  he  hath  been  in  the  grave 
four  days."  Why,  it  seemed  as  if  the  very  fountains 
of  natural  affection  had  been  for  the  time  closed  up. 
Whence  ?  I  ask  again.  Martha  had  lost  sight  of  the 
words  of  her  Lord,  and  was  running  adrift  among  her 
own  groundless  fancies  and  reasonings.  A  grand  evil 
this  among  us  indeed  ;  nor  were  it  easy  to  tell  either  the 
wide  sphere  of  the  operation  of  it,  or  the  mischiefs  which 
arise  out  of  it. 

There,  for  example,  is  a  desponding,  fearful  one,  who 
will  have  it  that  there  is  no  hope  and  no  help  for  him 
even  in  God, — will  have  it  that  he  has  sinned  too  long 
and  too  grievously  against  him — too  long  rejected  his 
offered  mercy, — will  have  it  that  his  day  of  grace  is  in 
fact  passed.  See  how  thou  art  preferring  thine  own 
fears,  fancies,  opinions,  before  the  words  of  Christ. 
Thou  sayest.  There  is  no  help  for  me  in  Grod.  God 
says,  "  Thou  hast  destroyed  thyself,  but  in  me  is 
thine  help."  Thou  sayest,  I  have  too  long  rejected 
his  offered  mercy.  Christ  says,  "  Him  that  cometh  to  me 
I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  Thou  sayest.  My  day  of 
grace  is  past.  Where  do  you  find  that  in  Scripture  ?  It 
is  but  an  opinion  at  the  best.  Meanwhile  Jesus  cries, 
* '  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me,  and  drink — 
This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom 
he  hath  sent — Condemned  because  he  hath  not  believed 
in  the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God."  Oh,  take 
care  lest  Satan,  still  persuading  thee  to  prefer  thine  own 


INCREDULITY  REBUKED.  29 

fears  and  fancies  beforo  Christ's  words,  dasli  tlico  tlius 
against  tlio  rock  of  a  wild  and  reckless  despair. 

Or,  another  man  deems  it  all  but  vain  and  hopeless  to 
go  down  to  some  poor,  neglected  district  of  a  great  city, 
or  to  arise  to  new  efforts  for  the  evangelizing  of  India, 
China,  Africa— as  if  ho  should  say,  **  By  this  time  it 
stinketh," — the  case  is  desperate  and  gone.  Still  the 
words  of  Christ  are  lost  sight  of,  and  exchanged  for 
vain  fancies  and  opinions:  "All  power  is  given  unto 
me  in  heaven  and  in  earth — Who  art  thou,  0  great 
mountain  ?  before  Zerubbabel  thou  shalt  become  a  plain 
—  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world — I  will  open  rivers  in  high  places,  and  fountains  in 
the  midst  of  the  valleys :  and  I  will  plant  in  the  wilderness 
the  cedar,  the  shittah  tree,  and  the  myrtle,  and  the  oil 
tree;  I  will  set  in  the  desert  the  fir  tree,  and  the  pine,  and 
the  box  tree  together ;  that  they  may  see,  and  know,  and 
consider,  and  understand  together,  that  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  hath  done  this,  and  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  hath 
created  it." 

Or — a  more  fearful  case  than  either — a  third  man  is  busy 
reasoning,  conjecturing,  and  finally  dogmatically  deter- 
mining, what  the  truths  of  this  blessed  volume  should  le, 
in  place  of  finding,  in  the  plain  words  of  Christ,  what  they 
are.  A  rapidly  downward  career  this,  if  unchecked ! 
Christ  has  said,  "I  and  my  Father  are  one."  Christ 
has  said,  **My  blood  shed  for  remission  of  the  sins  of 
many."  He  has  said,  "  This  is  the  Father's  will,  which 
hath  sent  me,  that  of  all  which  he  hath  given  me  I  should 
lose  nothing,  but  should  raise  it  up  again  at  the  last  day." 
But  there  are  difficulties  about  the  purposes  of  God ; 
difficulties  about  the  atonement;  difficulties  about  the 
Deity  of  Christ !  Behold  the  man  fast  loosening  from  all 
the  moorings  of  a  settled  faith,  and  about  to  drift  away, 
if  grace  prevent  not,  into  a  universal  doubt  and  scepticism ! 
Said  I  not  unto  tliee'^ 


so  ITTCREDIILITY  EEBUKED. 

(2.)  But  if  we  liave  the  evil  there,  we  have,  in  the  same 
short  word,  the  remedy  also,  *'  Said  I  not  unto  thee  ? " 
What  is  it  but  to  come  back  again  to  the  simple  words 
of  the  Lord,  and,  in  place  of  leaving  him  to  address  us, 
Said  I  not  unto  thee  ?  rather  to  address  him,  0  Lord, 
Saidst  thou  not  unto  me  ? — as  Moses,  for  example,  when 
he  prayed,  '*  See,  thou  sayest  unto  me,  Bring  up  this 
people :  and  thou  hast  not  let  me  know  whom  thou  wilt 
send  with  me.  Yet  thou  hast  said,  I  know  thee  by  name, 
and  thou  hast  also  found  grace  in  my  sight.  Now  there- 
fore, I  pray  thee,  if  I  have  found  grace  in  thy  sight,  shew 
me  now  thy  way."  Or,  as  Jacob,  when  he  said,  "  0  God 
of  my  father  Abraham,  and  God  of  my  father  Isaac,  the 
Lord  which  saidst  unto  me,  Eeturn  unto  thy  country,  and 
to  thy  kindred,  and  I  will  deal  well  with  thee  :  I  am  not 
worthy  of  the  least  of  all  the  mercies,  and  of  all  the  truth, 
which  thou  hast  shewed  unto  thy  servant.  .  .  Deliver  me, 
I  pray  thee,  from  the  hand  of  my  brother,  from  the  hand 
of  Esau  :  for  I  fear  him,  lest  he  come  and  smite  me,  and 
the  mother  with  the  children.  And  thou  saidst,  I  will 
surely  do  thee  good,  and  make  thy  seed  as  the  sand  of  the 
sea,  which  cannot  be  numbered  for  multitude."  Or,  as 
David,  when  he  said,  "Eemember  the  word  unto  thy 
servant,  upon  which  thou  hast  caused  me  to  hope " — 
''God  hath  spoken  in  his  holiness,  I  will  rejoice."  Or, 
as  the  persecuted  disciples  at  Jerusalem,  when  they 
lifted  up  their  voice  to  God  with  one  accord  and  said, 
"Lord,  thou  art  God,  which  hast  made  heaven,  and 
earth,  and  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them  is ;  who  by  the 
mouth  of  thy  servant  David  hast  said.  Why  did  the  heathen 
rage,  and  the  people  imagine  vain  things.  .  .  .  And  now, 
Lord,  behold  their  threatenings,  and  grant  unto  thy 
servants,"  &c.  0  yes,  beloved  brethren,  let  the  word  of 
Chirst  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom.  Blessed  it  is  to 
hear  that  voice,  *'  Said  I  not  unto  thee  ?"  It  is  our  very 
pole  star,  Said  I  not  unto  thee  ?    It  is  the  highest  reason  to 


INCREDULITY  REBUKED.  31 

believe  him  who  is  the  Truth  itself.  Breathe  after  that 
spirit,  **  Thy  word  have  I  hid  in  my  heart  tliat  I  might  not 
sin  against  thee — By  the  word  of  thy  lips  I  have  kept  me 
from  the  path  of  the  destroyer — If  ye  abide  in  me,  and  my 
words  abide  in  you,  ye  shall  ask  what  ye  will,  and  it  shall 
be  done  unto  you — Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if  thou 
wouldest  believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God  ?" 

II.  But  hitherto  in  the  text  I  have  looked  simply  at 
the  general  principle  of  the  expostulation,  '*  Said  I  not 
unto  thee?"  without  reference  to  the  particular  words  to 
Martha  which  the  Lord  recalls  to  her  remembrance,  '*//' 
thou  wouldest  helieve^  tJiou  slwuJdest  see  the  glory  of  God^  Be 
it  now  remarked,  secondly,  what  prominence  the  Lord 
gives  in  these  words  to  the  Divine  glory, — how  he  declares 
it  in  them  to  be  the  grand  object  He  himself  has  in  view, 
and  which  is  to  be  ever  aimed  at  by  us,  in  connection 
alike  with  his  words  and  with  his  works,  that  we  may 
discover  and  behold  in  them  the  glory  of  God.  For, 
observe  carefully  his  manner  of  speaking.  "  Said  I  not 
unto  thee,  that  if  thou  wouldest  believe,  thou  shouldest 
see" — what?  not  the  resurrection  of  thy  brother, — not 
any  mere  work  of  stupendous  but  passing  wonder, — but 
"  the  glorj^  of  God."  Of  course,  it  is  the  resurrection  of 
Lazarus  to  which  he  points  ;  but  he  prefers  saying,  "  the 
glory  of  God,"  which,  in  fact,  was  everything  in  the  Gje  of 
our  blessed  Lord.  Oh  !  as  to  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus, 
Christ  could  look  with  but  little  complacency  on  the  mere 
bringing  of  the  good  man  back  for  a  few  j'ears  to  a 
world  of  so  much  unbelief,  and  suffering,  and  sin.  And, 
as  for  passing  wonders,  Jesus  had  never  made  much  of 
them — "  Master,  see  what  manner  of  stones  and  what 
buildings  are  these  !"  ''Verily  I  say  unto  3'ou,  there  sliall 
not  be  left  one  stone  upon  another,  tliat  shall  not  be 
thrown  down."  But  here  was  a  wonder  destined  to  last  to 
all  eternity — "The  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  endure  for 
ever;  the  Lord  shall  rejoice  in  his  works."     The  glory  of 


32  INCiiEDULITY  REBUKED. 

God  171  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus — tliis  was  that  on 
which  Christ  would  fix  Martha's  mind  and  ours.  Here 
was  an  object  for  which  it  was  worthy  of  the  only  begotten 
of  the  Father  to  have  come  from  heaven  into  our  world 
— **Ihave  glorified  thee  on  the  earth,"  he  said,  telling 
the  errand  on  which  he  came,  "I  have  finished  the  work 
which  thou  gavest  me  to  do."  Here  was  the  object  and 
end  of  all  Christ's  miracles  together.  For,  "  this  begin- 
ning of  miracles,"  it  is  written,  "  did  Jesus  in  Cana  of 
Galilee,  and  manifested  forth  his  glory :"  and,  "  this 
sickness  is  not  unto  death,  but  for  the  glory  of  God,  that 
the  Son  of  God  might  be  glorified  thereby."  This  was 
that  object  in  the  view  of  which  our  blessed  Lord  could 
break  forth  in  a  kind  of  rapture  when  Judas  went  out  at 
midnight  to  betray  him,  "  Now,"  said  he,  ''  is  the  Son  of 
man  glorified,  and  God  is  glorified  in  him."  This  was 
that  object  which  Jesus  could  set  over  against  all  his 
deepest  agonies  and  sorrows — "  Now  is  my  soul  troubled," 
he  said,  ' '  and  what  shall  I  say  ?  Father,  save  me  from 
this  hour:  but  for  this  cause  came  I  into  this  hour. 
Father,  glorify  thy  name."  And  oh!  if  this  was  the 
grand  object  which  Christ  had  in  his  eye,  so  is  it  to  be  the 
grand  object  also  in  ours — Martha,  said  I  not  unto  thee, 
that,  if  thou  wouldest  believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory 
of  God — not  see  the  resurrection  of  thy  beloved  brother  so 
much  (that  will  soon  be  at  an  end,  considered  simply 
in  itself),  but  see  that  which  has  all  good  and  desirable 
things  together  wrapt  up  and  enfolded  in  it,  the  glory  of 
God?  Be  assured,  brethren,  that  what  was  God's  chief 
and  highest  end  in  all  his  works  and  ways,  is  that  with 
which  our  blessedness  also  must  be  inseparably  bound 
up.  And  I  will  venture  to  affirm  this,  that  if  only  the 
manifestation  of  the  Divine  glory  stood  out  more  promi- 
nently in  our  eye,  we  should  rise  superior  to  many  a 
difficulty  that  now  perplexes  and  stumbles  us;  and  we 
should  find  far  less  difficulty  than  we  do  in  believing,  with 


rN-CKEDULITY  REBUKED.  33 

reference  to  ourselves,  to  our  beloved  children,  to  tlie  world 
around  us,  that  an  Almighty  God,  for  his  own  glory ^  Loth 
could  and  would  "  quicken  the  dead,  and  call  the  things 
which  be  not  as  though  they  were."  Take  Martha  again 
for  an  instant.  IIow  would  a  glimpse  of  this  object, 
the  glory  of  God,  have  solved  all  the  mysteries  of  her 
brother's  case !  It  would  have  explained  his  sickness ; 
explained  the  repeated  delays ;  explained  his  death ;  and 
carried  his  resurrection  too  in  its  large  and  ample  embrace. 
Oh  that  those  desponding  ones  of  Avhom  I  spoke  a  little 
ago  did  but  realize  this,  the  glory  of  God,  as  His  highest 
end  in  saving  the  chief  of  sinners  How  should  they 
come  to  understand  the  meaning  of  pleadings  like  these, 
"For  thy  name's  sake,  0  Lord,  pardon  mine  iniquity;  for 
it  is  great."  "Help  us,  0  God  of  our  salvation,  for  the 
glory  of  thy  name ;  and  deliver  us,  and  purge  away  our 
sins,  for  thy  name's  sake."  *'Not  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not 
unto  us,  but  to  thy  name  give  glory,  for  thy  mercy,  and  for 
thy  truth's  sake !  "  And  how  should  we  take  courage  in 
reference  to  the  most  arduous  duties  and  enterprises  to 
wliich  the  Lord  in  his  providence  might  call  us,  learning 
to  plead  with  him,  ''Father,  glorify  thy  name — Thine 
is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever." 
Saidst  thou  not  unto  us,  that,  if  we  would  believe,  we 
should  see  the  glory  of  God  ? 

III.  But  this  brings  me  to  notice  yet  another  leading 
particular  in  these  words  of  Jesus.  He  intimates  in  them, 
thirdly,  how  vitally  important  a  place  faith  occupies  in 
connection  with  this  end  and  object  of  beholding  the 
glory  of  God.  "  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if  thou  tvoiddest 
believe,  thou  shouldost  sea  the  glory  of  God."  If  thou 
wouldest  helieve.  Observe  a  moment  there  what  the  faith  is 
of  which  Christ  speaks.  Not  so  much,  I  think,  a  crediting 
of  the  mere  fact  that  Lazarus  should  be  raised,  as  a  holy 
reliance  on  the  power  and  grace  and  faithfulness  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ, — a  faith  just  the  reverse  of  the  whole 

c 


34  rN-CREDULITY  REBUKED. 

spirit  of  Martha's  incredulous  despondency, — a  faith, 
answering  to  those  previous  glorious  words  of  Jesus,  "I 
am  the  resurrection  and  the  life  ;  he  that  believeth  in  me, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live," — a  faith  such  as 
Martha  herself,  strange  to  say,  had  but  a  little  before  ex- 
pressed, **  Yea,  Lord,  I  believe  that  thou  art  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  which  should  come  into  the  world," — a  faith 
in  character  like  Abraham's,  though,  of  course,  the  measure 
and  degree  of  it  may  vary  exceedingly,  *'  He  staggered 
not  at  the  promise  of  God  through  unbelief,  but  was  strong 
in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God ;  and  being  fully  persuaded 
that  what  he  had  promised,  he  was  able  also  to  perform." 
Then,  as  to  the  vital  connection  between  this  faith  and 
the  beholding  of  the  divine  glory — "If  thou  wouldest 
believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God" — observe  that 
unbelief,  on  the  one  hand,  hinders  the  beholding  of  that 
glory  in  two  different  ways.  For,  first,  it  intercepts,  to  a 
fearful  extent,  those  divine  works  in  which  it  might  be 
seen, — intercepts  and  cuts  off  the  communications  of  the 
divine  grace  and  j)Ower — as  you  remember  it  is  written, 
*'  He  did  not  many  mighty  works  there,  because  of  their 
unbelief;"  and  again,  "He  could  there  do  no  mighty 
work,  save  that  he  laid  his  hands  upon  a  few  sick  folk, 
and  healed  them.  And  he  marvelled  because  of  their 
unbelief."  And  second,  even  when  such  divine  works 
are  performed,  unbelief  closes  the  eye  against  the  glory  of 
God  visible  in  them.  Unbelief  can  see  the  miracles,  but 
cannot  see  the  glory  of  God  even  in  the  highest  miracles. 
The  Jews  beheld  all  the  mighty  works  of  Christ,  and  did 
but  murmur  and  cavil,  "  Is  not  this  the  carpenter's  son  ? 
Whence  hath  this  man  these  mighty  works  ?  And  they 
were  offended  at  him."  Even  this  stupendous  work  of 
the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  they  saw,  and  we  find  with 
what  effect  at  the  forty-sixth  verse  of  this  chapter,  "But 
some  of  them  went  their  ways  to  the  Pharisees,  and  told 
them  what  things  Jesus  had  done.     Then  gathered  the 


INCREDULITY  REBUKED.  35 

cliief  priests  and  Pliariseos  a  council,  and  said,  What  do 
■we  ?  for  this  man  doofli  many  miracles.  If  wo  let  him 
thus  alone,  all  men  will  believe  on  him."  But  faith,  on 
the  other  hand,  in  place  of  intercepting,  takes  hold  on 
the  divine  strength, — in  place  of  cutting  off,  welcomes  and 
brings  down  communications  of  divine  power  and  grace. 
And,  faith  has  an  eye  for  the  glory  of  God — or  rather,  is 
itself  the  very  eye  wherewith  the  believer  ''with  open 
face  beholds,  as  in  a  glass,  the  glory  of  God  " — as  it  is 
written  of  the  first  discijiles,  "  The  Word  was  made  flesh, 
and  dwelt  among  us,  and  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory 
as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and 
truth."  Mere  miracles,  without  this,  avail  nothing — 
"  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  will 
they  be  persuaded  though  one  rose  from  the  dead." 
And  without  miracles  this  is  enough — ^^  If  thou  wouldest 
believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God."  It  is  to  my 
mind  very  clear  that  these  words  to  Martha  are  not  the 
gathering  up  only  of  Christ's  previous  words  to  her,  but  the 
gathering  up  of  a  large  part  of  all  his  teaching  together, — 
of  all  such  words  as  these,  **  According  to  your  faith  be  it 
unto  you — Believe  ye  that  I  am  able  to  do  this? — If 
thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that 
believeth."  ''If  thou  wouldest  believe,  thou  shouldest  see 
the  glory  of  God."  Christ  intimates  there,  in  effect,  that 
faith  is  the  door  of  entrance,  as  it  were,  into  the  whole 
grace  and  glory  of  the  divine  promises,  which  God  to  a 
large  extent  throws  out  blant,  to  be  filled  up  by  faith. 
Thus,  "  A  new  heart  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit 
wiU  I  put  within  you ;  and  I  will  take  away  the  stony 
heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  j^ou  a  heart  of 
flesh."  No  name  there  but  sinner.  Faith  fills  the  name 
up.  Faith  enters  into  the  promises.  Faith  "obtains  the 
promises."  Faith  beholds  the  divine  glory  in  the  promises 
— "Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if  thou  wouldest  believe, 
thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God  ?" 


36  rN-CREDTHLITY  REBUKED. 

ly.  But  now  finally,  look  at  these  words  as  the  lan- 
guage of  rebuke  ;  as  the  language  of  encouragement ; 
and  as  the  language  of  direction. 

(1.)  As  the  language  of  rebuke.  ''Said  I  not  unto 
thee  ?  "  Ah,  Martha,  hast  thou  so  soon  forgotten  my  words 
—forgotten  thine  own,  ''  Yea,  Lord:  I  believe  that  thou 
art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  that  should  come  into  the 
world"?  And,  is  this  thy  kindness  to  thy  brother,  "By 
this  time  he  stinketh"?  Oh  what  cause  has  the  Lord 
thus  also  to  rebuke  us!  How  soon  and  miserably  do 
we  forget  his  words !  And  when  he  bids  us  remove  "  the 
stone,"  as  it  were,  from  our  brother's  grave, — take  mea- 
sures towards  the  conversion  of  the  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins,  is  not  this  too  much  our  spirit — It  is  of  no  use, 
— it  is  a  hopeless  task  ?  Have  we  not  been  almost  at  that 
question  of  the  first  murderer,  "Am  I  my  brother's 
keeper?"  "Martha,  the  sister  of  him  that  was  dead,  saith 
unto  him,  Lord,  by  this  time  he  stinketh:  for  he  hath 
been  in  the  grave  four  days." 

(2.)  But  this  is  the  language  also  of  encouragement — 
if  of  rebuke,  yet  assuredly  of  very  gracious  rebuke,  and 
encouragement.  See  how  lovingly  the  Lord  brings  back 
his  words  to  Martha's  remembrance,  "Said  I  not  unto 
thee  ?"  And  see  how  he  so  puts  them — the  glory  of  God 
— as  to  assist  the  weakness  of  her  faith;  for  "  the  glory  of 
God,"  as  we  saw,  explained  all  the  difficulties  together — 
the  sickness,  the  delays,  the  death,  the  resurrection — all. 
And  even  so  does  the  Lord  encourage  us  also,  with  refer- 
ence to  our  own  souls,  and  our  children's,  and  the  world 
around  us — encourage  us  to  plead  with  him,  0  Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  not  do  unto  thy  great  name  ?  Not  unto 
us,  but  unto  thy  name  give  glory,  for  thy  mercy  and  for 
thy  truth's  sake !  Saidst  thou  not  unto  us  that,  if  we 
would  believe,  we  should  see  the  glory  of  God  ? 

(3.)  But  further  still,  this  is  the  language,  as  of  rebuke, 
and  of  encouragement,    so    also    of  manifold    precious 


INCREDULITY  REBUKED.  37 

direction.  Direction,  for  example,  first,  to  treasure  up  in 
our  memories  and  hearts  tliG  words  of  Clirist — "Said  1 
not  unto  thee?" — words  like  these,  "Come  unto  me,  all 
ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest;"  or  these,  "Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto 
me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven;"  or  these,  "Go  yo  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  gospel  unto  every  creature;"  or  these,  "I 
am  the  resurrection  and  the  life :  he  that  believeth  in  me, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live ;  and  whosoever 
liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die" — Said  I  not 
unto  thee  ?  And,  secondly,  direction  to  look  more  to  the 
manifestation  of  the  divine  glory  than  to  this  or  that 
particular  issue  or  benefit,  as  the  object  of  supreme  desire. 
"If  thou  wouldest  believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of 
GodP  And,  thirdly,  direction  to  use  all  divinely  appointed 
means,  "Jesus  said.  Take  ye  away  the  stone."  Ah!  we 
cannot  give  life  to  the  dead,  but  we  can  remove  the  stone. 
"We  cannot  give  life  to  the  dead— that  is  the  prerogative 
of  Him  who  is  "the  resurrection  and  the  life" — but  we  can 
bring  this  precious  gospel  and  all  the  means  of  grace 
within  reach  of  the  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  :  "  Son  of 
man  prophecy  upon  these  bones,  and  say  unto  them,  Oye 
dry  bones,  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  " — "  Go,  and  speak 
in  the  temple  to  the  people  all  the  words  of  this  life." 
But,  fourthly,  direction  to  use  the  means  in  faith, — faith  of 
Christ's  life-giving  power  and  grace ;  for  he  does  not  say, 
If  thou  wouldst  remove  the  stone  simply,  but  if  thou 
wouldst  believe,  thou  shouldst  see  the  glory  of  God.  And 
finally,  direction — remembering  how  Chi'ist  is  the  author 
and  finisher,  as  well  as  object  of  faith — to  cry,  Lord 
increase  our  faith — I  believe.  Lord,  help  thou  mine 
unbelief.     Jesus  saitti  unto  her.  Said  I  not  unto  thee, 

THAT,  IF  TIIOU  WOULDEST  BELIEVE,  TIIOU  SHOULDEST  SEE 
THE  GLORY  OF  GoD  ? 


JEHOVAH-JIREH. 

And  Abraham  called  the  name  of  that  place 
Jehovah'jireh :  as  it  is  said  to  this  day,  In  the  mount 
of  the  Lord  it  shall  be  seen.^' — Gen.  xxii.  14. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  our  getting  at  tlie  meaning,  and 
into  tlie  spirit,  of  these  words,  that  we  glance  at  one  or  two 
particulars  in  the  previous  touching  narrative  to  which 
they  belong.  "Take  now  thy  son,"  God  said  to  Abraham, 
"thine  only  son  Isaac,  whom  thou  lovest,  and  get  thee 
into  the  land  of  Moriah;  and  offer  him  there  for  a 
burnt- offering  upon  one  of  the  mountains  which  I  will 
tell  thee  of."  It  was  a  great  deal  more  this  than  a  trial 
to  nature, — to  all  the  deepest  and  strongest  feelings  of 
nature.  We  must  be  ready  to  part  with  these  for  the 
sake  of  Christ.  But  it  seemed  as  if  Abraham  were  bidden 
part  in  this  instance  with  Christ  himself.  For  you  will 
recollect  that,  long  before  this  time,  God  had  expressly 
limited  the  promise  of  Messiah  to  the  line  of  Isaac — take 
him  now,  and  offer  him  for  a  burnt- offering.  Not  to  speak 
of  the  strange  aspect  of  a  human  sacrifice — I  had  almost 
said  the  heathenish  aspect  of  a  human  burnt-offering 
(for  it  belonged  to  the  burnt-offering,  that  the  victim, 
besides  being  slain,  should  be  cut  in  j)ieces,  and  reduced 
to  ashes  in  the  fire) — God  had  expressly  bound  up  the 
salvation  of  the  world  with  the  life  and  with  the  line  of 
Isaac.  And  thus,  I  repeat,  it  seemed  as  if  Abraham  were 
called  to  part  with  salvation, — witli  Christ  himself.     And 


jEiiOYAn-JiREir.  39 

yet  one  can  see  how  some  rays  of  light  might  break  forth  to 
the  eye  of  faith  out  of  the  very  darkness  of  the  command. 
Thus,  the  expressness  of  the  limitation  to  Isaac, — the 
closing  thereby  of  every  other  door  of  hope, — when  taken 
along  with  the  equal  expressness  of  the  command  to  sacrifice 
him,  might  well  suggest  to  faith  that  surely  the  Almighty 
God  must  have  some  way,  best  known  to  himself,  of 
bringing  the  promise  and  the  command  into  harmony 
with  each  other.  And  as  to  the  human  sacrifice,  let  it 
be  remembered  that  all  the  sacrifices  from  the  begin- 
ning had  borne  reference  to  that  word,  The  Seed  of  the 
icoman  shall  bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent.  Is  it  improbable 
that  Abraham,  in  the  very  darkness  of  the  command  to 
take  Isaac,  and  ofi'er  him  for  a  burnt- offering,  might  get 
some  glimpse  of  a  sacrifice  yet  to  come,  more  illustrious 
far  than  that  of  any  animal  victim — even  the  Son  of  a  far 
other  Father  ? 

At  all  events,  we  find  him  proceeding  onwards  in  the 
solemn  silent  acquiescence  of  faith,  till  the  trying  ques- 
tion was  put  to  him  by  Isaac,  *'  Behold  the  fire  and  the 
wood;  but  where  is  the  lamb  for  a  burnt-offering?" 
Then  Abraham,  in  his  reply,  does  not  so  much  evade  the 
question,  as  meet  it  by  falling  back  on  the  great,  immutable 
principles  of  faith,  "  And  Abraham  said.  My  son,  God  will 
provide  himself  a  lamb  for  a  burnt-offering" — as  if  he 
had  said.  My  son  Isaac  (at  this  time  perhaps  about 
twenty  years  of  age),  God,  whose  own  institution  the 
sacrifice  of  burnt-offering  is,  will  not  fail  to  find  materials, 
somewhere,  for  the  observance  of  it  at  his  own  command. 
And  then,  when  his  heart  was  like  to  burst  at  the  thoujrht 
of  that  somewhere,  this  further  idea  rises  in  the  words — 
and  least  of  all,  my  son,  will  he  miss  the  grand  final 
scope  and  end  of  all  sacrifices,  which  it  hath  pleased 
him  to  associate  with  ihce,  saying,  "  In  Isaac  shall  thy 
seed  be  called" — "my  covenant  will  I  establish  with 
Isaac."     Let  us  go  forward :  fear  not;  God  will  provide 


40  JEHOVAH-JIREII. 

himself  a  lamb  for  a  burnt-ofiFering.  "  So  they  went  both 
of  them  together,"  the  narrative  continues;  "and  tliey 
came  to  the  place  which  God  had  told  him  of."  No 
relief  of  any  kind  yet  appeared.  ''And  Abraham  built 
an  altar  there,  and  laid  the  wood  in  order,  and  bound 
Isaac  his  son" — doubtless  with  his  own  full,  awful, 
consent— ''and  laid  him  on  the  altar  upon  the  wood. 
And  Abraham  stretched  forth  his  hand,  and  took  the 
knife" — still  striving  to  hope  against  hope,  accounting 
that  God  was  able  to  raise  him  uj),  if  necessary,  even 
from  the  ashes — from  whence  also  he  did  receive  him  in 
a  figure, — a  kind  of  similitude  of  a  resurrection,  "  And 
the  angel  of  the  Lord  called  unto  him  out  of  heaven,  and 
said,  Abraham,  Abraham :  and  he  said,  Here  am  I. 
And  he  said.  Lay  not  thine  hand  upon  the  lad,  neither  do 
thou  any  thing  unto  him ;  for  now  I  know  that  thou 
fearest  God,  seeing  thou  hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine 
only  son  from  me."  Then  one  can  conceive — or  rather 
can  scarce  conceive — with  what  adoring  gratitude,  relief, 
holy  wonder,  Abraham,  receiving  back  his  son  from  the 
dead,  would  behold  the  ram  of  which  we  next  read,  caught 
in  a  thicket  by  his  horns,  and  would  immediately  proceed 
to  "offer  him  up  for  a  burnt-offering  in  the  stead  of  his 
son."  But  now  I  pray  you  to  observe  the  words  of  the 
text,  *'And  Abraham  called  the  name  of  that  place 
Jehovah-jireh,"  that  is  to  say.  The  Lord  will  provide. 
In  the  margin  it  is,  "will  see,  or  provide."  The  word 
signifies  to  see ;  then,  to  see  to,  or  provide.  Undoubtedly 
the  latter  is  the  meaning  here,  for  the  expression  is  tlie 
very  same  which  Abraham  had  used  in  addressing  Isaac, 
"God  will  provide  a  lamb  " — "Abraham  called  the  name 
of  that  place.  The  Lord  will  provide."  We  might  have 
thought  it  would  have  been,  hath  provided.  But  no ;  for 
aU  Abraham's  hopes  were  bound  up — very  dear  as  Isaac 
was  to  him — with  an  event  yet  wrapt  up  in  the  distant 
future.     It  is   still   a  word  of  anticipation,    The   Lord 


TEIIOVAn-JIKElT.  41 

will  provide.  Ho  just  reiterates  what  he  had  said  to 
Isaac,  God  will  provide  himself  a  lamb.  True,  he  has 
got  the  ram.  Still  better,  he  has  got  back  his  son.  But 
however  thankful  for  both,  chiefly  he  regards  both  as  but 
blessed  pledges,  infallible  securities  and  earnests,  of 
better  things  yet  to  come.  Nor  have  I  any  doubt  that  of 
all  the  occasions  in  Abraham's  life,  this  hour  was  the  one 
^o  which  the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  had  principal 
reference,  **  Your  father  Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  my  da}^; 
and  he  saw  it,  and  was  glad" — "Abraham  called  the  name 
of  that  i:)lace,  Jehovah  will  provide ;  as  it  is  said  to  this 
day,"  adds  Moses,  '*  In  the  mount  of  the  Lord  it  shall  be 
seen,"  or  provided. 

What  I  further  purpose  is  to  look  at  the  words  with  jou 
for  a  little,  first,  in  their  bearing  on  that  grand  central 
event  in  the  world's  history  to  which  they  had  a  prospec- 
tive reference,  and  in  which  they  were  destined  to  find 
their  full  accomplishment;  and  then  in  their  bearing 
on  a  great  general  principle  of  faith  contained  in  them, 
intimately  and  inseparably  connected  with  that  event. 

I.  And  first,  we  look  at  the  words  as  they  bear  on 
that  grand  central  event  in  the  world's  history  to  which 
they  had  a  prospective  reference,  and  in  which  they 
wei-e  destined  to  find  their  full  accomplishment.  For, 
in  this  same  place,  nearly  two  thousand  years  after, — on, 
or  near,  the  spot  to  which  Abraham  gave  the  name  of 
'*  Jehovah  will  provide" — Jehovah  did  jjrovide  a  Lamb  for 
a  b  unit-offer  in  (/y  whose  death  wiU  be  the  theme  of  all 
heaven  throughout  eternity !  But  we  must  look  at  this  a 
little  more  particularly. 

You  have  noticed  the  words,  *'  Get  thee  into  tlie  land  of 
3foriah;  and  ofier  him  theie  for  a  burnt-ofibring  upon 
one  of  the  mountains  which  I  wiU  tell  thee  of."  Now 
let  us  turn  for  a  moment  to  second  Chronicles,  third 
chapter,  at  the  beginning.  *'  Then  Solomon  began  to 
build  the  house  of  the  Lord  at  Jerusalem  in  nionnt  Jloriali, 


42  JEHOVAH- JIREH. 

where  the  Lord  appeared  unto  David  his  father,  in  the 
place  that  David  had  prepared  in  the  threshing-floor 
of  Oman  the  Jebusite."  Two  things  are  mentioned  here 
respecting  Moriah,  the  place  where  Abraham  oflered, 
and  to  which  he  gave  the  name,  Jehovah  will  provide. 
First,  that  it  was  the  place  where  the  Lord  appeared 
to  David  in  the  threshing-floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite, 
and  where  David  prepared  for  the  after  rearing  of  the 
temple ;  and  second,  that  it  was  the  place  where  the  temple 
was  accordingly  built  by  Solomon.  It  was  the  place 
where  the  Lord  appeared  to  David  in  the  threshing- 
floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite.  Going  back  to  first  Chronicles, 
twenty-first  chapter,  we  have  the  account  there  of  David's 
sin — it  was  Israel's  sin  also  in  efi'ect — in  numbering  the 
people,  and  of  the  Lord's  ofi'ering  to  him  the  terrible 
choice  of  three  years'  famine,  or  three  months  before  the 
sword  of  the  enemy,  or  three  days'  pestilence, — the  sword 
of  the  Lord.  "  And  David  said  unto  Gad,  I  am  in  a 
great  strait :  let  me  fall  now  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord ; 
for  very  great  are  his  mercies :  but  let  me  not  fall  into 
the  hand  of  man.  So  the  Lord  sent  pestilence  upon 
Israel :  and  there  fell  of  Israel  seventy  thousand  men. 
....  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  by  the  threshing- 
floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite.  And  David  lifted  up  his 
eyes,  and  saw  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stand  between  the 
earth  and  the  heaven,  having  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand 
stretched  out  over  Jerusalem :  and  David  and  the  elders 
of  Israel,  who  were  clothed  in  sackcloth,  fell  upon  their 
faces.  .  .  .  Then  the  angel  of  the  Lord  commanded  Gad 
to  say  to  David,  that  David  should  go  up  and  set  up 
an  altar  unto  the  Lord  in  the  threshing-floor  of  Oman 
the  Jebusite.  And  David  went  up  at  the  saying  of  Gad, 
which  he  spake  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  Then  follows 
the  transaction  of  the  solemn  purchase  of  the  ground. 
"And  David  built  there  an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  and 
ofi'ered   burnt-offerings   and   peace-ofi'erings,   and   called 


jEnovAn-JiREn.  43 

upon  the  Lord;  and  he  answered  him  from  heaven  by 
lire  upon  the  altar  of  burnt-offering.  And  the  Lord 
commanded  the  angel,  and  he  put  up  his  sword  again 
into  the  sheath  thereof.  At  that  time,  when  David  saw 
that  the  Lord  had  answered  him  in  the  threshing-floor  of 
Oman  the  Jebusite,  then  he  sacrificed  there.  .  .  .  Then 
David  said" — beyond  all  doubt  by  Divine  inspiration — 
"  This  is  the  house  of  the  Lord  God'^ — the  site  of  the  after 
temple — "  and  this  is  the  altar  of  the  burnt-offering  for 
Israel."  Accordingly,  there  follow  David's  large  prepara- 
tions for  the  after  rearing  of  the  temple. 

And  now  return  we  for  an  instant  to  the  passage  in 
second  Chronicles,  *'  Then  Solomon  began  to  build  the 
house  of  the  Lord  at  Jerusalem  in  mount  Moriah,  where 
the  Lord  appeared  unto  David."  On  Jloriah — in  the  place 
where  Abraham  offered,  and  to  which  he  gave  the  name, 
Jehovah  will  provide — did  Solomon  build  that  temple  which 
was  so  eminent  a  type  of  Messiah.  There,  during  the 
ten  hundred  years  that  followed,  were  offered  all  those 
unnumbered  sacrifices  of  which  the  temple  with  its  altars 
was  the  scene.  And  at  length,  at  the  end  of  those  years, 
— still  in  the  same  place — on  one  of  the  hills  at  least  of 
the  same  range  of  Moriah  (for  this  sacrifice  behoved  to  be 
without  the  city  as  an  accursed  thing),  there  was  bound  to 
the  altar  a  Lamb — but  how  shall  I  speak  of  this  Lamb  ? 

God  never  knew  another  from  the  beginning.  I  doubt 
not  that  Isaac  was  a  divinely  ordained  type  of  Him. 
Was  Isaac  the  child  of  the  promise  ?  The  true  child  of 
the  promise  was  Christ.  Was  Isaac  long  promised,  and 
long  waited  for,  before  his  birth  ?  Four  thousand  years 
elapsed,  of  promise  and  longing  expectation,  ere  Simeon 
took  up  the  child  Jesus  in  his  arms,  saying,  "  Mine  eyes 
have  seen  thy  salvation."  Was  Isaac's  birth  supernatural? 
"The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of 
the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee  ;  therefore  also  that 
holy  thing  which  shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the 


44  JEHOVAH-JIREH. 

Son  of  God."  Did  Isaac  meekly  snbmit  to  be  bound  to 
the  altar  on  the  wood?  "He  is  led  as  a  lamb  to  the 
slaughter,  and  as  a  sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb,  so 
he  openeth  not  his  mouth."  But  here  the  resemblances 
seem  to  stop.  Or,  if  there  be  anything,  as  I  doubt  not 
there  is  much,  in  the  semblance  of  Isaac's  death  and 
resurrection,  yet  assuredly  it  is  here  hut  a  shadow.  For 
no  sinner  might  ever  die  to  expiate  sin ;  and  our  God 
never  would  have  a  human  sacrifice  even  to  prefigure  the 
true.  But  now  behold,  at  last,  "  the  Man  that  is  God's 
fellow  !"  Behold  Him,  laid  on  the  altar  upon  the  wood, 
who,  when  they  said  to  him,  "  Thou  art  not  yet  fifty  years 
old,  and  hast  thou  seen  Abraham  ?  "  answered,  *' Before 
Abraham  was,  I  am!"  Behold  the  Lamb  for  a  hurnt- 
cffering — 0  yes,  consumed  by  the  fire  of  that  Divine 
holiness  and  justice  of  which  the  fire  of  all  the  burnt-ofier- 
ings  was  but  the  shadow, — "  My  heart,"  said  he,  "is  like 
wax,  it  is  melted  in  the  midst  of  my  bowels — My  soul  is 
exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death — My  God,  my  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God, 
— the  fulfilment  at  length  of  Abraham's  word,  Jehovah 
will  pro  vide — provided  of  God,  approved,  accepted  of  God! 
Ah,  when  I  find  myself  standing  arraigned  and  trembling 
at  the  bar  of  the  Divine  justice,  how  sweet  to  hear  that  voice, 
Godi's  Lamb, — fore-ordained  by  Him  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world, — presented  by  Him  at  the  altar, — of 
whom  He  said,  "Awake,  0  sword,  against  my  shepherd, 
and  against  the  man  that  is  my  fellow,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts  :  smite  the  shepherd  !  "  llie  Lamb.  God  never 
knew  another.  This  was  Abel's  lamb  of  the  firstlings  of 
the  flock.  This  was  Abraham's  ram.  This  was  the 
substance  of  all  the  numberless  victims  of  the  ancient 
economy.  Why  were  there  so  many  then  ?  Because  they 
were  but  shadows,  "In  those  sacrifices  there  was  a  remem- 
brance again  made  of  sins  every  year ;  for  it  was  not 
possible  that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  should  take 


jEiiOYAn-JinEn.  45 

away  sins."  Why  is  there  but  one  now  ?  Because  it  is 
encnij^-h, — "the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world":  — 

Kot  all  the  blood  of  beasts, 

On  Jewish  altars  slain, 
Could  give  the  guilty  conscience  peace, 

Or  wash  away  the  stain. 

But  Christ,  the  heavenly  Lamb, 

Takes  all  our  guilt  away  ; 
A  sacrifice  of  nobler  name, 

And  richer  blood  than  they. 

**  By  one  offering  he  hath,  perfected  for  ever  them  that 
are  sanctified" — "  Now  once  in  the  end  of  the  world  hath 
he  appeared,  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself." 

II.  ''  Hath  appeared."  Abraham  used  the  future  tense, 
will  provide.  We  are  privileged  to  use  the  past,  "hath, 
appeared."  And  yet  there  is  ample  room,  in  another 
aspect  of  the  matter,  for  the  future  tense  with  us  also — 
which  leads  into  our  second  head,  namely,  the  bearing  of 
the  text  on  a  great  general  principle  of  faith  contained  in 
it,  intimately  and  inseparably  connected  with  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ — "Abraham  called  the  name  of  that  place 
Jehovah -jireh.  The  Lord  will  provide." 

Here  let  one  or  two  things  be  rapidly  observed  as  to 
Abraham.  He  knew,  by  express  divine  communications 
made  to  him,  that  he  must  die  long  before  the  appear- 
ing of  the  promised  Seed.  He  also  knew,  by  experi- 
ence of  the  past,  that  there  awaited  him  manifold  trials 
and  conflicts  in  the  remainder  of  his  pilgrimage.  AVell ; 
if,  looking  through  the  vista  of  ages,  he  could  write 
Jehovah-jireh  in  reference  to  the  after  appearing  of  Mes- 
siah, much  more,  I  suppose,  would  he  be  able,  in  con- 
nection with  it,  to  write  the  same  word  in  reference  to 
whatsoever  perplexities,  cares,  conflicts,  might  be  yet  in 
store  for  him.  Nor  will  you  fail  to  notice  that,  as  he 
had  suffered  manifold  trials  before  this  time,   and   been 


46  JEHOYAH-JIREH. 

brouglit  out  of  them  all,  and  now  had  been  exposed  to  a 
more  terrible  one  than  all  the  rest,  and  been  brought 
through  it  also,  his  faith  and  allegiance  sustained  in  it 
throughout,  so  it  is  easy  to  see  how  his  faith,  now  taking 
a  kind  of  joyful  bound,  would  write  Jehovah-jireh,  as  if  he 
should  say,  **  Thou,  Lord,  who  hast  shewn  me  great  and 
sore  troubles,  shalt  quicken  me  again,  and  bring  me  up 
again  from  the  depths  of  the  earth — Thou  shalt  guide  me 
with  thy  counsel,  and  afterwards  receive  me  to  glory — The 
Lord  is  my  shepherd;  I  shall  not  want " — Jehovah-jireh. 

And  this,  accordingly,  is  the  principle — even  God's 
faithful,  all-providing  mercy,  grace,  on  the  one  hand, — 
and  faith's  counterpart  confidence,  unreserved  and  unsus- 
pecting reliance  on  that  grace,  upon  the  other.  How 
inseparably  connected  this  principle  is  with  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ,  need  I  say?  For  that  sacrifice  is  the  sole  foun- 
dation of  it.  Take  Christ's  sacrifice  away,  and  you  cut 
down  the  whole  ladder  of  communication  between  heaven 
and  earth,  "  I  am  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life  ;  no 
man  cometh  unto  the  Father  " — neither  cometh  the  Father 
unto  any  man — "but  by  me."  And  the  indispensable 
foundation  becomes  also,  in  its  turn,  the  infallible  pledge 
and  security.  For,  *'  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son, 
how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things  ?" 
Here  may  we  apply  the  words  of  the  Lord  to  Abraham, 
*'Now  I  know  that  thou  fearest  God," — that  thou  wilt 
not  withhold  anything  I  require  of  thee — "seeing  thou 
hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son  from  me." 
Even  so  may  the  believer  say.  Now,  0  Lord,  I  know 
that  thou  wilt  not  withhold  from  me  anything  that  is 
truly  good,  seeing  thou  hast  not  withheld  from  me  thy 
Son,  thine  only  Son.  Only,  I  pray  you  to  see  how  all 
turns  thus  on  your  having  Christ.  Eun  not  away  with 
mere  groundless  fancies  of  grace.  If  you  want  Christ,  you 
want  the  foundation  of  all,  and  the  pledge  of  all.  Buf  if 
you  have  Christ,   then  write,  when  and  where  you  will, 


JEnovAii-JiiiEii.  47 

Jehovah -jireli.  No  longer  it  is  mount  Moriah.  Every- 
where,— in  the  house  and  by  the  way, — at  homo,  abroad, 
— in  Britain,  China,  India, — in  health,  in  sickness, — 
living,  dying, — write  this  ^vord. 

Are  you  in  deep  perplexity  as  to  your  path,  and  fearful 
of  taking  a  false  step  ?  AVrite  Jehovah-jireh,  the  Lord 
will  provide  counsel.  The  name  of  this  Lamb  is  Won- 
derful, Counsellor — '*I  will  instruct  thee,  and  teach  thee 
in  the  way  in  which  thou  shalt  go ;  I  will  guide  thee  with 
mine  eye."  Are  you  called  to  some  arduous  duty?  Write 
Jehovah-jireh,  the  Lord  will  provide  strength — *'  My 
strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness."  Are  you  straitened 
as  to  temporal  provision  ?  Write  still  this  word,  Jehovali- 
jireh,  for  ''your  heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have 
need  of  these  things."  Do  you  anticipate  painfully  the 
conflict  with  the  last  enemy  ?  Write  Jehovah-jireh — *'  0 
death,  I  will  be  thy  plagues ;  0  grave,  I  will  be  thy  destruc- 
tion." And  as  for  the  eternity  beyond,  still  write  Jehovah- 
jireh,  for  "the  Lamb,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne, 
shall  feed  them  and  shall  lead  them  unto  living  fountains  of 
waters;  and  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes." 

Beloved  hearers,  are  you  Christ's?  Have  you  beheld 
this  Lamb  ?  Is  His  blood  upon  you  ?  Have  you  ever,  in 
the  concern  of  an  awakened  soul,  exclaimed,  as  it  were, 
**  Behold  the  fire  and  the  wood;  but  where  is  the  lamb 
for  a  burnt-offering?"  Have  you  been  convinced  that 
you  verily  deserve  to  be  consumed  by  the  fire  of  the 
Divine  justice  for  ever?  Have  you  heard  with  wonder 
that  God  will  accept  a  substitute-Lamb,  and  hath  himself 
provided  Him?  Have  you  laid  your  hand  on  the  head  of 
that  Lamb,  and,  confessing  your  sin  over  Him,  cried,  God 
be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner— 

My  faith  would  lay  her  hand 

On  that  clear  head  of  thine, 
While  as  a  penitent  I  stand, 

And  there  confess  my  sin  ? 


48  JEHOVAH-JIREH. 

If  not,  at  least  remember  that  all  expiation  for  sin  centres 
in  this  Lamb.  God  never  knew,  and  never  will  know,  any 
other.  There  remaineth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sins.  How 
cmi  you  escape,  if  you  neglect  so  great  salvation  ? 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  are  you  Christ's  ?  Then  "  you 
are  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs  according  to  the  promise." 
You  are  Abraham's  seed,  and  so  may  look  for  trials, — else 
you  shall  be  very  unlike  Abraham.  And,  as  those  trials 
are  among  the  heaviest  of  all  which  seem  to  cast  a  shade 
over  the  Divine  faithfulness,  so  it  is  a  mighty  thing  to 
fall  back  in  the  midst  of  them  on  great  and  immutable 
principles,  as  did  Abraham  in  his  reply,  *'My  son,  God 
will  provide  himself  a  lamb  for  a  burnt- offering,"  or  as 
Peter,  in  that  reply  of  his,  "  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go? 
thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life ;  and  we  believe  and  are 
sure  that  thou  art  that  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 
But  you  are  heirs  also  according  to  the  promise, — heirs  of 
Abraham's  God,  whose  name  is  Jehovah-jireh,  and  of 
whom  his  people  have  so  often  found  that  their  extremity 
is  his  chosen  opportunity.  Abraham  had  stretched  forth 
his  hand,  and  taken  the  knife,  when  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
called  unto  him  out  of  heaven.  Lay  not  thine  hand  upon  the 
lad  !  It  was  in  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night  that  Jesus 
went  unto  the  disciples  walking  on  the  sea.  "It  is  not 
meet,"  said  Jesus  to  the  woman  of  Canaan,  '*  to  take  the 
children's  bread,  and  to  cast  it  to  dogs.  And  she  said, 
Truth,  Lord,  yet  the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs  which  fall 
from  their  master's  table.  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  0  woman, 
great  is  thy  faith  ;  be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt." 
Abraham  called  the  name  of  that  place — the  place  where 
he  had  to  bind  Isaac,  and  lay  him  on  the  altar  upon  the 
wood — Jeho  vah-j  ireli. 

But  yet  again,  and  in  a  closing  sentence,  one  might  see 
here  the  reciprocal  and  inseparable  connection  there  is 
between /a/^A  and  oledicnce.  Abraham's  obedience  sprung, 
in  the  first  instance,  out  of  his  faith,  as  Paul  writes,  "By 


jEnoTAn-JiREn.  49 

faltli  Abraliam,  wlicn  he  was  tried,  offered  up  Isaac."  But 
now  tlio  faith,  in" its  turn,  receives  a  mighty  impulse  from 
the  obedience — Abraham  called  the  name  of  that  place 
Jeliovah-jireh,  The  Lord  will  provide.  Very  remarkable 
in  this  view  are  the  words  that  follow  the  text,  and  with  the 
reading  of  which  I  conclude,  *'  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
called  unto  Abraham  out  of  heaven  the  second  time,  and 
said,  By  myself  have  I  sworn,  saith  the  Lord ;  for  because 
thou  hast  done  this  thing,  and  hast  not  withheld  thy  son, 
thine  only  son,  that  in  blessing  I  will  bless  thee,  and  in  mul- 
tiplying I  will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  the  heaven. 
....  And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth 
be  blessed ;  because  thou  hast  obej^ed  my  voice."     Abea- 

nA3I  CALLED  THE  XAME  OF  THAT  PLACE  JEnOVAn-JIREU,  AS 
IT  IS  SAID  TO  THIS  DAY,  In  THE  MOTJXT  OF  THE  LoED  IT 
SHALL  BE  SEEN. 


THE  HEART  OF  JESUS-HIS  AFFECTION  FOR  THE 
LITTLE  ONES. 

*' And  they  brought  young  children  to  him,  that  he 
should  touch  them;*  and  his  disciples  rebuhed  those  that 
brought  them.  But  when  Jesus  saw  it,  he  was  much  dis- 
pleased, and  said  unto  them.  Suffer  the  little  children  to 
come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not :  for  of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Whosoever 
shall  not  receive  the  "kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child,  he 
shall  not  enter  therein.  And  he  took  them  up  in  his 
arms,  put  his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them.'^ — 
Mark  x.  13-16. 

I  HAVE  not  read  these  very  precious  verses  for  the 
purpose  of  exposition,  but  that  I  may  invite  your  thoughts 
for  a  little  to  two  distinct  bearings  of  them — first,  their 
bearing  on  the  character  of  Jesus, — his  mind  and  heart, 
— his  ineffable  tenderness,  grace,  love,  considered  more 
in  general ;  and  second,  and  more  specifically,  the  bearing 
of  them  on  his  affection  for  the  little  ones,  with  the  sources 
and  springs  of  it.  Oh  for  His  own  blessed  presence  with 
us  while  we  meditate  together  on  these  things  ! 

I.  And  first,  the  verses  vitally  bear  on  the  character 

*  Luke  has  it  infants,  using  a  word  whicli  always  means  a  babe, 
— an  infant.  Mark's  word  here,  and  which  Matthew  also  employs, 
points  to  children  very  young,  indeed,  but  rather  further  advanced 
than  infancy.  I  think  the  inference  is,  that  the  children  brought 
to  Jesus  were  of  both  periods — partly  infants  at  the  breast,  and 
partly  little  children  able  to  walk, — of  perhaps  two  or  three  years. 


THE  HEART  OF  JESUS.  51 

of  Jesus, — on  his  mind  and  heart, — his  unspeakable  ten- 
derness, grace,  love,  considered  more  in  general.  For, 
have  you  not  noticed  how  harsh  and  unkind  natures  never 
draw  to  little  children, — how  sehisli,  proud,  austere,  un- 
loving souls  have  no  sj^mpathy  with  little  children,  and 
seem  incapable  of  feeling  interest  in  them.  Of  course  I 
do  not  mean  to  say  that  even  a  selfish  and  proud  man 
may  not  feel  interested  in  his  own  children.  But  little 
children  in  general  he  cares  not  for.  They  are  beyond 
the  range  of  any  sympathies  of  his.  His  thoughts  are  too 
much  centred  in  himself  to  go  out  to  them.  They  can  do 
nothing  for  Am,  and  he  cannot  be  troubled  with  them,— 
takes  no  interest  in  them.  True,  he  was  a  child  once 
himself ;  but  he  cares  not  to  think  of  that. 

And,  in  truth,  the  repulsion  is  thoroughly  mutual. 
Little  children  somehow  shrink  as  by  an  instinct  from 
selfish,  high-minded  men.  I  believe,  brethren,  that  even 
regenerated  souls,  which  were  specially  characterized 
by  a  j)roud  selfishness  before  conversion,  seldom  come, 
even  after  it,  to  feel  quite  at  home  with  little  children. 
There  is  a  certain  strangeness  and  stiffness  that  may  still 
be  observed  in  their  intercourse  with  them.  And  even 
their  kindnesses  to  them  are  rather  duties  they  now  will- 
ingly discharge,  than  delights  which  they  spontaneously 
desire.  But  behold,  I  pray  you,  the  heart  of  our  Lord 
Jesus,  as  it  comes  out  here  gloriously  the  reverse  of  all 
that  is  harsh,  selfish,  proud,  unloving.  "  He  took  up  the 
little  children  in  his  arms  " — ah,  no  austerity  in  that  heart 
— *'he  took  them  up  in  his  arms,  put  his  hands  upon 
them,  and  blessed  them."  Behold  the  Saviour's  bowels  of 
mercies,  kindness,  humbleness  of  mind,  meekness,  gentle- 
ness, love.  Metliinks  I  can  trust  my  soul,  even  in  hours 
of  deepest  darkness  and  despondency,  in  the  hands  of 
Him  who  bade  the  little  children  welcome  when  the  dis- 
ciples would  have  put  them  away, — took  them  up  in  his 
arms,  put  his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them. 


52  THE  HEART  OF  JESUS — 

But  this  feature  in  the  character  of  Jesus  is  not  to  be 
seen  in  anything  like  the  full  excellency  of  it  without 
connecting  it  with  another,  very  unlike  it,  and  which  at 
first  might  even  seem  scarcely  compatible  with  it — I  mean 
the  majesty,  glory,  greatness,  of  his  character.  Now  I  do 
not  require,  for  illustration  here,  to  go  further  back  than 
the  immediately  previous  verses.  There  we  find  our  Lord 
giving  forth  laws  respecting  the  marriage  relation,  which 
were  destined  soon  to  alter  the  face  of  the  nations, — which 
in  fact  are  moulding,  stamping  their  character  on,  the  whole 
civilised  world  at  this  hour.  ' '  The  Pharisees  came  to  him, ' ' 
we  read  at  the  second  verse,  "and  asked  him.  Is  it  lawful 
for  a  man  to  put  away  his  wife  ?  tempting  him.  And  he 
answered  and  said  unto  them,  What  did  Moses  command 
you?  And  they  said,  Moses  suffered  to  write  a  bill  of 
divorcement,  and  to  put  her  away.  And  Jesus  answered 
and  said  unto  them,  Eor  the  hardness  of  your  heart  he 
wrote  you  this  precept :  but  from  the  beginning  of  the 
creation  God  made  them  male  and  female.  For  this  cause 
shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  cleave  to  his 
wife ;  and  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh  :  so  then  they  are 
no  more  twain,  but  one  flesh.  What  therefore  God  hath 
joined  together,  let  not  man  put  asunder.  And  in  the 
house  his  disciples  asked  him  again  of  the  same  matter. 
And  he  saith  imto  them,  Whosoever  shall  put  away  his 
wife,  and  marry  another,  commiteth  adultery  against  her. 
And  if  a  woman  shall  put  away  her  husband,  and  be 
married  to  another,  she  committeth  adultery.  And  they 
brought  young  childre7i  to  him^  that  he  should  touch  them ; 
and  his  disciples  rehuhed  those  that  hroxight  them.^"*  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  disciples  awed,  overawed,  by  the 
glory  of  their  Master,  and  incapable  for  the  time  of 
realizing  in  union  with  it  a  tenderness  and  gentleness 
quite  as  great,  ventured  to  thinhfor  him,  that  it  was  enough 
he  should  have  given  laws  for  all  families  and  parents, 
without  being  asked  to  concern  himself  with  the  little 


HIS  AFFECTION  FOR  THE  LITTLE  ONES.  53 

cliildren,  incapable  of  profiting:  ^7  liis  instructions.  But 
see  liow  the  Master  passes  without  an  effort  from  the 
majesty  of  the  lawgiver  to  the  tenderness  of  a  very 
nursing  mother,  **  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come 
imto  md,  and  forbid  them  not — He  took  them  up  in 
his  arms,  put  his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them." 
Oh,  this  is  He  who  not  long  before  had  arisen  in  that 
vessel,  and  rebuked  the  wind,  and  said  to  the  sea.  Peace, 
be  still,  and  the  wind  ceased,  and  there  was  a  great 
calm — He  took  up  the  little  cliildren  in  his  arms,  put 
his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them!  This  is  He 
who,  on  the  mount,  was  transfigured  before  the  three 
disciples,  and  his  face  did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  his 
raiment  was  white  as  the  light;  and  there  came  a  voice  to  him 
from  the  excellent  glory,  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased.  JVow  he  takes  up  little  children  in  his 
arms,  puts  his  hands  upon  them,  and  blesses  them !  This 
is  He  who  soon  will  bring  Lazarus  out  of  his  very  grave. 
Yea,  "the  hour  cometh,"  he  said,  *' in  which  all  that  are  in 
the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth  " — He 
took  up  the  little  children  in  his  arms,  put  his  hands  upon 
them,  and  blessed  them !  I  do  not  stay  to  remark — or 
to  do  more,  at  least,  than  simply  remark,  without  enlarge- 
ment on  it — that  a  character  like  this,  uniting  in  it  such 
divine  majesty  with  such  unspeakable  human  sympathy 
and  tenderness,  must  be  tnie,  is  self-demonstrative, — that 
no  impostor  could  possibly  have  lived  it,  or  attempted  to 
live  it,  without  discovering  the  artifice  at  every  step,  while 
no  false  historian  could  have  conceived  it,  to  write,  to  fabri- 
cate, it.  But  let  me  rather  observe,  that  this  evidently  is 
none  other  than  He  of  whom  it  was  written  of  old,  "  Say 
unto  the  cities  of  Judah,  Behold  your  God:  He  shall  feed 
his  flock  like  a  shepherd,  he  shall  gather  the  lambs  with 
his  arm,  and  carry  them  in  his  bosom."  He  took  up  the 
little  children  in  his  arms :  He  said  to  the  sea.  Peace,  bo 
still !     This  is  none  other  than  He  of  whom  we  sang  a  little 


54  THE  HEART  OP  JESUS — 

ago,  **  He  telletL.  the  number  of  the  stars,  he  calleth  them 
all  by  their  names  :  He  healeth  the  broken  in  heart,  and 
bindeth  up  their  wounds."  Lazarus,  said  he,  come  forth 
— He  took  up  the  little  children  in  his  arms,  put  his  hands 
upon  them,  and  blessed  them !  0  yes,  let  my  soul  be  in 
the  hands  of  this  mighty  and  merciful, — glorious,  gracious 
One.  Indeed,  his  tenderness  alone,  without  his  majesty, 
could  never  meet  the  case  of  a  soul  lost  as  mine  is.  And 
his  majesty  alone,  without  his  tenderness,  would  soon  have 
given  such  a  soul  over  to  its  deserved  doom.  But  what  a 
Saviour, — what  a  Physician,  Friend,  is  this,  who  cast  out 
the  devils  with  a  word ;  who  raised  the  dead ;  who  came 
to  the  disciples  in  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night  walking 
on  the  sea ;  who  took  up  the  little  children  in  his  arms,  put 
his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them  !  He  will  not  break 
the  bruised  reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax.  Heal  me, 
0  Lord,  and  I  shall  be  healed ;  save  me,  and  I  shall  be 
saved — Jesus,  thou  son  of  David,  have  mercy  upon  me — 
My  Lord  and  my  God  I — So  much,  briefly,  for  the  bearing 
of  these  verses  on  the  character  of  Jesus, — the  light  which 
ihej  cast  on  his  mind  and  heart, —  his  unspeakable  tender- 
ness, grace,  love,  considered  more  in  general. 

II.  Now  I  touch  on  the  other  and  more  specific  bearing 
of  them,  on  his  deep  afi'ection  for  the  little  ones,  with  the 
springs  and  sources  of  it.  As  to  the  fact  of  the  deep  afi'ec- 
tion, I  suppose  I  do  not  require  to  dwell  much  longer  in 
illustration  of  it.  It  shines  on  the  face  of  this  whole  narra- 
tive. Whatever  may  have  been  the  precise  motive  of  the 
disciples  in  rebuking  the  parents  who  brought  their  chil- 
dren to  Jesus,  it  is  out  of  the  question  to  suppose  that  they 
were  characterized  by  any  positive  or  peculiar  indifi'erence 
to  the  little  children.  No ;  but  Jesus  was  characterized  by 
a  very  peculiar,  gloriously  afi'ectionate,  concern  for  them 
and  their  welfare.  You  are  to  mark  the  deep  contrast 
here  between  the  Master  and  even  his  truest  disciples. 
See  his  positive  displeasure,  pain  of  soul  (the  original 


niS  AFFECTION  FOR  THE  LITTLE  ONES.  55 

\rorcl  is  a  very  strong  one),  at  their  unkind  rebuke.  See 
how  he  hastens  to  assure  the  parents  that  his  followers 
had  miserably  misread,  misinterpreted,  the  mind  of  their 
Master.  See  his  emphatic  and  impassioned  welcome  to 
the  children  in  the  injunction  ho  lays  on  tho  disciples, 
''  Suffer  them  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not." 
See  how  he  takes  them  up  in  his  arms,  frowns  on  the 
disciples,  smiles  on  the  children,  places  his  hands  gently 
and  lovingly  upon  them,  and  blesses  them.  I  will  only 
add  as  to  the  fact,  that  this  is  not  the  only  place  where 
we  find  Jesus  taking  up  little  children  in  his  arms.  In  the 
previous  chapter  we  read,  ''  He  took  a  child  and  set  him 
in  the  midst  of  them  ;  and  when  he  had  taken  him  in  his 
arms,  he  said  unto  them,  Whosoever  shall  receive  one  of 
such  children  in  my  name,  receiveth  me."  Again  and 
again  we  find  him  speaking  of  the  little  ones — *'  It  is  not 
the  will  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  that  one  of  these 
little  ones  should  perish."  And  you  may  just  recall  to  mind 
the  following  words  near  the  close  of  the  gospel  history, 
"^\Tien  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  saw  the  wonderful 
things  that  he  did,  and  the  children  crying  in  the  temple 
and  saying,  Hosannah  to  the  son  of  David,  they  were  sore 
displeased,  and  said  unto  him,  Hearest  thou  what  these 
say  ?  And  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Yea,  have  ye  never  read ' ' 
— behold  how  he  welcomes  the  children's  songs — *'  Out  of 
the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  perfected 
praise."  But  what  I  chiefly  wish  here,  assuming  the  fact 
of  the  Saviour's  tender  affection  for  the  little  ones,  is  to 
try  and  trace  it  up  with  you  to  its  sources  and  springs. 

1.  And  shall  I  not  mention,  first  among  them,  his 
eternal  Divinity?  Shall  we  not  trace  up  Christ's  deep 
affection  for  the  little  ones,  most  radically  and  fundamen- 
tally, to  his  eternal  Godhead?  You  remember  those 
words  of  Jehovah  to  an  impatient  prophet  of  old,  *'  Should 
not  I  spare  Nineveh,  that  great  city,  wherein  are  more 
than  six  score  thousand  persons  that  cannot  discern  be- 


56  THE  HEART  OF  JESUS — 

tween  their  right  hand  and  their  left  hand?"  Oh,  this 
is  that  God — He  took  up  the  little  children  in  his  arms* 
put  his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them.  It  is  the  God 
that  created  the  little  ones — shall  He  be  indifferent  to 
them  ?  It  is  the  God  of  whom  it  is  -written  in  the  book 
of  Job,  "God  is  mighty,  and  despiseth  not  any," — de- 
spiseth  not  any,  just  because  he  is  so  great  above  all.  It 
is  the  God  who  feeds  the  young  ravens  when  they  cry. 
It  is  the  God  who  clothes  the  lilies  of  the  field  with 
their  surpassing  beauty, — who  bestows  as  much  care 
on  the  tiniest  blade  or  leaflet  as  on  the  planet  that 
rolls  through  space  ;  the  God  who  declared  his  profound 
interest  in  Nineveh's  sixty  thousand  little  ones  that  knew 
not  their  right  hand  from  their  left.  God  is  love— Jesus 
is  God — He  took  up  the  little  children  in  his  arms,  put 
his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them. 

2.  But  more  immediately  and  specifically,  Christ's  ten- 
der affection  for  the  little  ones  is  to  be  traced  up  to  the 
perfection  of  his  Humanity, — has  its  spring  and  source, 
secondly,  in  the  stainless  purity  and  perfection  of  the 
human  nature  which,  for  our  salvation,  he  took  into 
union  with  the  Divine.  I  was  speaking  at  the  outset  of 
harshness,  austerity,  selfishness,  pride,  unlovingness. 
Of  course  these  all  belong  to  our  nature  as  it  is  fallen 
and  lost,  and  so  could  have  no  place  in  the  heart  of  the 
man  Christ  Jesus,  "holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate 
from  sinners," — of  whom  the  angel  said  to  Mary,  "The 
Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the 
Highest  shall  overshadow  thee ;  therefore  also  that  holy 
thing  which  shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the 
Son  of  God."  The  selfish  proud  soul,  I  said,  never 
draws  to  little  children.  But  for  the  same  reason,  con- 
versely, Jesus,  the  meek,  lowly,  loving  One,  cannot  but 
draw  to  them.  I  reasoned  before  from  the  incident  up 
to  the  character.  Now  I  reason  down  from  the  character 
to  the  incident, — to  explain  the  incident, — to  give  us  the 


HIS  AFFECnOX  FOR  THE  LITTLE  ONES.  57 

ppring  and  source  of  Christ's  tender  affection  for  the  little 
ones — ho  was  perfect  man,  as  well  as  true  and  very  God. 

3.  Then,  in  intimate  connection  with  this,  have  we  not 
a  third  source  and  spring  of  it,  in  the  mysterious  fact  of 
his  own  infancy  and  childhood,— that  he  was  an  infant 
once  himself  at  Bethlehem,  a  little  child  at  Nazareth  ?  He 
came  not  into  the  world,  as  the  first  Adam  was  brought 
into  it,  in  the  prime  and  vigour  of  manhood,  but  in 
the  helplessness  of  a  very  babe,  as  it  is  written,  '*  She 
brought  forth  her  firstborn  son,  and  wrapped  him  in 
swaddling  clothes,  and  laid  him  in  a  manger."  Ah,  the 
proud  man  was  once  an  infant;  but  he  does  not  care  to 
think  of  it.  How  would  Jesus,  on  the  contrary,  love  to  fall 
back  oftentimes  on  that  first  period  of  his  humiliation ! 
JFe  think  seldom  of  it,  and  perhaps  not  altogether  un- 
wisely, since  so  little  has  been  revealed  of  it  to  us.  But  I 
think  it  must  often  have  been  a  subject  of  cherished 
thought  with  the  Saviour  himself.  And  when  he  saw  these 
parents  bringing  their  little  children  to  him,  and  the 
disciples  discouraging  the  approach,  methiuks  those 
words  of  the  twenty-second  Psalm  might  flash  across  his 
mind,  "Thou  art  he  that  took  me" — 7ne  also — "out  of 
the  womb ;  thou  didst  make  me  hope  when  I  was  upon 
my  mother's  breasts" — I  also  was  an  infant.  Come, 
come  away — Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me. 
He  took  them  up  in  his  arms,  put  his  hands  upon  them, 
and  blessed  them ! 

And  there  was  one  circumstance  in  the  infancy  of 
Jesus  which  I  think  would  not  fail  to  lend  an  element  of 
more  intense  tenderness  to  all  his  thoughts  about  his 
infancy,  and  to  his  affection  for  the  little  ones  in  con 
nection  with  it.  I  mean  the  massacre, — Herod's  massacre 
of  the  infants  at  Bethlehem,  to  accomplish,  if  possible, 
the  death  of  the  infant  Messiah.  **When  tliey  were 
departed,"  it  is  written,  "behold,  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
appeareth  to  Joseph  in  a  dream,  saying,  Arise,  and  take 


58  THE  HEAET  OF  JESUS  — 

the  young  child  and  his  mother,  and  flee  into  Egypt,  and 
be  thou  there  until  I  bring  thee  word :  for  Herod  will 
seek  the  young  child  to  destroy  him.  When  he  arose, 
he  took  the  young  child  and  his  mother  by  night,  and 
departed  into  Egypt.  Then  Herod,  when  he  saw  that  he 
was  mocked  of  the  wise  men,  was  exceeding  wroth,  and 
sent  forth,  and  slew  all  the  children  that  were  in  Beth- 
lehem, and  in  all  the  coasts  thereof,  from  two  years  old 
and  under,  according  to  the  time  which  he  had  diligently 
enquired  of  the  wise  men.  Then  was  fulfilled  that  which 
was  spoken  by  Jeremy  the  prophet,  saying.  In  Eama 
was  there  a  voice  heard,  lamentation,  and  weeping,  and 
great  mourning,  Eachel  weeping  for  her  children,  and 
would  not  be  comforted,  because  they  are  not."  Many 
years  ago  I  came  on  the  following  touchingly  beauti- 
ful paragraph,  in  a  paper  by  the  late  J.  D.  Burns  of 
Hampstead,  on  the  Massacre  and  the  Sojourn  in  Egypt : 
— "  So  these  young  lives  were  yielded  up  for  Christ; 
martyrs,  in  a  sense,  we  may  call  them,  in  act  though 
not  in  will,  taken  thus  early  from  an  evil  world  to  the 
life  immortal,  in  which  they  always  behold  the  face 
of  their  Father,  wearing  there  for  ever  the  white  vest- 
ment of  an  unsullied  purity,  washed  in  the  blood  of 
Him  for  whom  their  own  was  spilt  like  water  on 
the  ground.  Is  it  extravagant  to  suppose  that  to  the 
unfolding  mind  of  Jesus, — to  that  human  heart  which 
was  so  finely  strung,  so  delicately  sensitive  in  all  its 
natural  affections,  the  thought  of  childhood  was  in- 
vested, on  this  account,  with  a  purer  and  tenderer 
grace; — that  when  he  took,  on  a  later  day,  the  little 
children  of  the  hamlets  in  his  arms,  and  blessed  them, 
laying  his  hand  for  all  time  on  the  innocent  golden  head, 
there  mingled  with  the  action  a  remembrance  of  the  fact, 
that  the  lives  of  little  children  were  the  first  that  had 
been  sacrificed  for  his  own  ?" 

4.  But  fourthly  I  mark,  among  the  springs  and  sources 


niS  AFFECTION  FOR  THE  LITTLE  ONES.  59 

of  Christ's  deep  afTection  for  tlio  little  ones,  tlio  place 
they  had  ever  held  iu  the  Divine  covenant  of  grace, 
and  were  still  to  hold  in  it  under  the  new  and  better 
dispensation  of  the  gospel.  Well  did  Jesus  know 
those  words  to  Abraham,  ''  I  will  be  a  God  to  thee,  and 
to  thy  seed  after  thee  :"  and  those  words,  "  I  will  cir- 
cumcise thine  heart,  and  the  heart  of  thy  seed,  to  love 
the  Lord  thy  God:"  and  those,  "I  will  pour  my  Spirit 
upon  thy  seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring." 
And  this  place,  which  the  children  had  ever  held  in  the 
covenant  was  not  to  cease  with  the  old  testament, — to 
cease  under  the  pre-eminently  gracious  dispensation  of  the 
new.  Jesus  intimates  the  contrary  in  the  words  before 
us,  '  *  Of  such — suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto 
me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
God."  Soon  he  was  to  commission  his  apostles  to  renew 
the  intimation  in  many  a  form,  such  as,  "  The  promise  is 
to  you  and  to  your  children" — ''Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and  thy  house" — 
"  The  unbelieving  husband  is  sanctified  by  the  wife,  and 
the  unbelieving  wife  is  sanctified  by  the  husband:  else  were 
your  children  unclean;  but  now  are  they  holy."  Well; 
Jesus  beholds  the  little  ones  with  a  deeper  affection  and 
interest,  because  of  the  special  place  they  had  ever  held, 
and  were  still  to  hold,  in  the  covenant  made  in  the 
Divine  counsels  of  peace  before  the  world  began. 

5.  Which  runs  into  a  fifth  source  and  spring  of 
Christ's  tender  affection  for  the  little  ones,  namely,  the 
myriads  of  them  in  glory, — the  myriads  of  the  redeemed 
in  heaven  who  entered  it  in  the  period  of  helpless 
infancy.  No  doubt  this  thought  also  is  in  the  pregnant 
words,  "Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God," — in  glory 
above,  as  well  as  grace  below.  Only  remember,  I  be- 
seech you,  how  large  a  proportion  of  our  whole  race  die 
in  infancy.  Then,  if  you  but  suppose  the  children  of 
believers,  dying  in  infancy,  to  be  universally  saved — very 


60  THE  HEART  OF  JESUS 

mucli  more,  of  course,  if  you  suppose  the  salvation  of 
all  infants,  dying  in  infancy,  without  exception — what 
an  innumerable  multitude  are  clothed  thus  with  white 
robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands !  How  large  a  propor- 
tion of  the  jewels  of  the  Eedeemer's  crown  are  in  every 
age  gathered  from  the  ranks  of  little  children !  How 
dear  must  they  thus  be  in  the  eyes  of  Jesus ! 

6.  But  I  mention  yet  another  source  and  spring  of 
Christ's  deep  affection  for  the  little  ones.  He  found  the 
chosen  type  of  his  disciple  in  the  little  child, — found  the 
most  perfect  picture  and  pattern  of  the  subject  of  his 
spiritual  kingdom,  in  the  child's  simplicity,  guilelessness, 
trustfulness,  humility,  unquestioning  obedience.  Was  the 
question  moved  among  the  disciples.  Who  is  greatest 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven?  "Jesus  called  a  little  child 
unto  him,  and  set  him  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  said. 
Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Except  ye  be  converted,  and 
become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  Whosoever  therefore  shall  humble 
himself,  as  this  little  child,  the  same  is  greatest  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  To  the  same  purpose  are  the 
solemn  and  searching  words  of  the  15th  verse  here, 
**  Yerily  I  say  unto  you,  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the 
kingdom  of  Grod  as  a  little  child,  he  shall  not  enter 
therein."  My  hearers,  are  you  bearing  this  in  mind? 
Are  you  bearing  in  mind  that,  except  you  receive  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  in  somewhat  of  the  simplicity,  trust- 
fulness, sincerity,  lowliness,  unquestioning  submission,  of 
a  little  child,  you  shall  not  enter  therein  ?  0  Lord,  wilt 
thou  teach  me  the  spirit  of  David's  psalm,  "Lord,  my 
heart  is  not  haughty,  nor  mine  eyes  lofty :  neither  do  I 
exercise  myself  in  great  matters,  or  in  things  too  high  for 
me.  Surely  I  have  behaved  and  quieted  myself,  as  a  child 
that  is  weaned  of  his  mother :  my  soul  is  even  as  a  weaned 
child.  Let  Israel  hope  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth  and 
for  ever" ! 


niS  AFFECTION  FOR  THE  LITTLE  ONES.  61 

I  might  liavo  mentioned  other  sources — such  as  our 
Lord's  knowing  ttcII  how  much  should  in  every  ago  depend 
on  the  childhood  for  the  character  of  the  manhood, — how 
the  germs  and  seeds  of  the  great  future  are  then  for  tho 
most  part  sown.  ]\[any  a  wise  and  godly  mother  remembers 
this, — tells  of  it  in  her  tears  and  prayers,  and  travailing 
as  in  birth  till  Christ  be  formed  in  tho  heart  of  her  child. 
Jesus  knew  it  well,  and  knew  also  that,  with  some  great 
exceptions,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  those  of  his  servants  should 
serve  him  best  in  his  kingdom  who  should  be  brought  to 
him,  united  to  him,  in  very  early  years.  Suffice  it,  how- 
ever, to  have  noted  those  several  springs  and  sources  of 
Christ's  deep  affection  for  the  little  ones — his  Godhead ; 
the  perfection  of  his  Manhood ;  his  infancy  and  child- 
hood ;  the  place  of  little  children  ever  in  the  covenant ;  the 
myriads  of  them  in  heaven ;  and  that  he  found  the  chosen 
type  of  his  disciple  in  the  little  child. 

Let  me  for  an  instant  revert,  in  closing,  to  the  bearing 
of  the  passage  on  the  character  and  heart  of  Jesus, — 
his  ineffable  tenderness,  grace,  love,  considered  more  in 
general.  Are  there  sorrowing  ones  here,  —  anxious, 
sin-burdened  souls,  ready  to  sink  into  despondency? 
I  would  affectionately  commend  to  you  Him  who  took 
up  the  little  children  in  his  arms,  put  his  hands 
upon  them,  and  blessed  them.  Oh  be  encoui-aged  to 
put  your  case  into  his  hands, — to  trust,  to  leave,  it  with 
him.  Here  is  a  Physician,  of  skill  and  power  enough  to  heal 
your  deepest  wounds,  but  not  less  gentle  also,  and  lowly, 
and  tender,  in  dealing  with  them.  Listen  to  his  own  words, 
**  Come  unto  me,  all  yo  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  wiU  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and 
learn  of  me;  iov  I  am  meeh  and  lowly  in  heart;  and  ye 
shall  find  rest  unto  3'our  souls."  Believers  in  Jesus,  what 
a  Saviour  is  this  you  have  found — or  rather  who  has  found 
5'ou!  I  think,  when  they  ask,  *'AVhat  is  thy  beloved 
more   than   another  beloved?"   you  may  well  answer, 


62  THE  HEART  OF  JESUS. 

"  My  beloved  is  wMte  and  ruddy,  the  chiefest  among  ten 
thousand.  His  head  is  as  the  most  fine  gold ;  his  locks  are 
bushy,  and  black  as  a  raven.  .  .  .  His  countenance  is  as 
Lebanon,  excellent  as  the  cedars."  Oh,  he  will  raise  the 
universal  dead — He  took  up  the  little  children  in  his  arms 
— I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that 
he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  to  him 
against  that  day. 

How  does  the  whole  subject  abound  with  materials 
of  encouragement  to  Christian  parents,  to  pray  for  their 
little  children,  to  present  them  to  the  Lord  in  baptism, 
to  plead  with  God  unceasingly  for  them,  and  to  plead 
with  them,  in  due  time,  unceasingly  for  God!  And 
how  does  the  subject  abound  with  encouragement  to 
you  also,  dear  children,  to  come  to  Jesus  now,  saying, 
0  satisfy  us  early  with  thy  mercy,  that  we  may  rejoice 
and  be  glad  all  our  days!  Would  that  we  ministers, 
pastors,  drank  deeper  into  the  spirit  of  Him  who  yearned 
over  the  little  ones  with  an  affection  so  tender,  and  would 
not  ascend  up  into  glory  till  first  he  had  charged  Peter,  in 
name  of  the  universal  Ministry,  *' Simon,  son  of  Jonas, 
lovest  thou  me?" — then  ''Feed  my  sheep,  feed  my 
lambs." 


VI. 

THE  DOOM  OF  MEROZ.* 

*'  Curse  ye  Meroz,  said  the  angel  of  the  Lord  ;  curse 
ye  bitterly  the  inhahitants  thereof ;  because  they  came 
not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord 
against  the  mighty" — Judges  v.  23. 

In  these  deeply  solemn  words  two  things  claim  our 
attention — the  sin  of  the  inhabitants  of  Meroz,  and  the 
judgment  of  the  Lord  against  them  because  of  it.  Let 
me  rapidly  touch  on  the  sin ;  on  the  judgment ;  with  one 
or  two  practical  lessons  arising  out  of  both. 

I.  The  sin  of  the  men  of  Meroz  is  described  in  very 
remarkable  terms,  although  we  have  grown  so  famihar 
with  them  as  scarce  perhaps  to  notice  their  strange 
character.  It  is  said  that  **  they  came  not  to  the  help  of 
the  Lord."  Came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord?  Every- 
where we  read  of  the  Lord's  coming  to  the  help  of  man ; 
but  man  coming  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  seems  strange. 
Constantly  we  find  such  prayers  as  *'  Help  us,  0  Lord  our 
God,  for  we  rest  on  thee  " — ''  Give  us  help  from  trouble, 
for  vain  is  the  help  of  man  " — ''  Help  us,  0  God  of  our 
salvation,  for  the  glory  of  thy  name."  But  helpless  man 
coming  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  !  Is  He  in  straits,  then  ? 
"Can  a  man  be  profitable  unto  his  Maker?"  Is  he  in 
difficulties,   that  he  should  require  the  aid  of  his  own 

*  Preached  at  the  opening  of  the  Free  Church  General  Assembly, 
22d  Miy  1873. 


64  THE  DOOM  OF  MEEOZ. 

creature  ?  So  it  would  seem,  in  some  sense  or  otlier.  And 
happily,  although,  we  have  not  elsewhere  the  exact  expres- 
sion in  the  text,  we  have  kindred  ones  which  let  us  at  once 
into  its  weighty  import,  as  for  example,  ''  I  was  an 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat  " — ''  He  that  toucheth 
you,  toucheth  the  apple  of  his  eye  " — "  Saul,  Saul,  why 
persecutest  thou  me  ? " — Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  unto 
one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  not  to  me." 
''  They  came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of 
the  Lord  against  the  mighty." 

The  particular  case  here  was  this.  Israel,  for  their 
idolatries, — their  ''choosing  of  new  gods,"  as  it  is  ex- 
pressed in  a  previous  verse,  had  been  sold  by  the  Lord 
into  the  hand  of  the  Canaanites.  For  years  they  had 
held  them  down  beneath  a  crushing  oppression.  At 
length  the  Lord  raised  up  a  deliverer  for  them  in  the 
person  of  Deborah,  in  conjunction  with  Barak,  the  son  of 
Abinoam.  Of  Deborah  it  is  written  at  the  sixth  verse  of 
the  previous  chapter,  that  "  she  sent  and  called  Barak 
the  son  of  Abinoam  out  of  Ivedesh-Naphtali,  and  said 
unto  him,  Hath  not  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  commanded, 
saying,  Go  and  draw  toward  Mount  Tabor,  and  take  with 
thee  ten  thousand  men  of  the  children  of  Naphtali  and 
of  the  children  of  Zebulun  ?  And  I  will  draw  unto  thee, 
to  the  river  Kishon,  Sisera,  the  captain  of  Jabin's  army, 
with  his  chariots,  and  his  multitude  ;  and  I  will  deliver 
him  into  thine  hand."  I  will  deliver  him.  But  the 
Lord  employs  instruments  for  the  executing  of  his  pur- 
poses, though  he  needs  them  not.  The  tribes  of  Israel 
were  summoned  to  this  war :  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Meroz  declined  the  summons.  Well;  but  God  had  entered 
into  marriage  covenant  with  Israel.  The  kingdom  of 
Israel  was  His  kingdom.  The  interests  of  Israel  were  His 
interests  ;  and  he  had  bound  up  with  them  the  glory  of 
his  own  name.  Accordingly,  it  is  not  now  said  of  the 
men  of  Meroz  that  they  came  not  to  Deborah's  help,  nor 


THE  DOOM  OF  MEROZ.  G5 

to  Barak's  help,  nor  even  to  the  holii  of  Israel ;  but  that 
*'  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of 
the  Lord  against  the  mighty."  True,  they  were  deeply 
guilty  in  refusing  to  come  to  the  help  of  Israel.  It  was 
the  very  spirit  of  the  fu'st  murderer,  ''Am  I  my  brother's 
keeper?"  Na}',  they  were  guilty  in  refusing  pusillani- 
mously  to  come,  if  I  might  so  speak,  to  their  own  help. 
For  they  were  a  part  of  Israel ;  their  own  interests  were  in- 
volved in  the  struggle  ;  and  men  are  not  entitled  to  fling 
their  own  liberties  and  welfare  away.  But  pre-eminently 
their  sin  lay  in  this — ^just  where  the  condemnation  of  the 
final  judgment  will  lie,  '*  Ye  did  it  not  to  me  " — "  They 
came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord 
against  the  mighty." 

(1.)  A  little  more  specifically,  the  sin  of  the  men  of 
Meroz  had  in  it  unbelief, — criminal  distrust  of  the  word 
and  promise  and  power  of  the  living  God.  No  doubt  it 
was  largely  cowardice  that  led  them  to  refuse  their  aid. 
But  whence  the  cowardice  ?  They  did  not  believe  that  the 
Canaanites  could  be  subdued.  They  would  keep  on  good 
terms  with  the  oppressors  to  save  their  own  heads.  They 
"believed  not  in  God,  and  trusted  not  in  his  salvation." 
Either  they  did  not  believe  that  the  Lord  was  in  covenant 
with  Israel,  or,  which  came  to  much  the  same,  they 
limited  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  like  their  fathers, — they 
deemed  his  strength  unequal  to  cope  with  the  princes  of 
Canaan.  Their  spirit  was  that  of  the  spies  of  old,  ''  The 
people  be  strong  that  dwell  in  the  land,  and  the  cities  are 
walled  and  very  great."  It  was  the  dark  reverse  of  theirs 
who  answered  them,  **  They  are  bread  for  us;  their 
defence  is  departed  from  them,  and  the  Lord  is  with  us ; 
fear  them  not." 

(2.)  Butbesides  criminal  unbelief — that  root  and  strength 
of  all  other  iniquities — the  sin  of  the  men  of  Meroz  had  in 
it  a  vile  preference  of  their  own  ease,  and  fancied  present 
interest,  before  the  authority,  and  honoui*,  and  interest,  of 

£ 


66  THE  DOOM  OF  MEROZ. 

the  God  of  Israel.  DeLorab.  had  said,  '^  Hatli  not  tlie  Lord 
God  of  Israel  commanded,  saying.  Go,  and  draw  toward 
mount  Tabor?"  And  tlie  command  had  doubtless  been 
made  known  to  the  men  of  Meroz.  But  they  preferred 
their  own  selfish  quiet  before  the  authority  of  Jehovah — 
treason  that,  of  course,  against  the  King  of  kings.  They 
preferred  their  own  ease  before  His  honour,  which  was 
now  at  stake,  since  he  had  said,  "  I  will  deliver  Sisera, 
the  captain  of  Jabin,  into  thine  hand."  No  thanks  to  the 
men  of  Meroz  if  the  promise  did  not  fail, — if  the  glory  of 
the  God  of  Israel  became  not  the  mockery  of  the  heathen. 
They  preferred  their  own  ease  before  God's  interest — for 
he  had  condescended  to  make  Israel's  interest  his  own. 
And  it  was  just  as  if  the  adorable  God  had  been  in  distress, 
but  they  cared  not  for  it ;  as  if  he  had  been  an  hungered, 
but  they  gave  him  no  meat ;  as  if  he  had  been  crushed 
beneath  the  rod  of  the  oppressor,  but  they  refused  to  lift 
a  hand  for  his  deliverance — '*  They  came  not  to  the  help 
of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty." 
(3.)  And  thuis,  further,  their  sin  was  nothing  less  than 
enmity,  war,  against  the  living  God.  Doubtless  they 
would  be  fain  to  say,  AYhat  have  we  done  so  much  against 
him  ?  we  have  but  sat  still  in  our  quiet  homes.  Ay,  and 
therein  fought  against  Him.  Oh,  there  is  no  possible 
medium  between  the  love  of  the  adorable  God,  and  the 
hatred  of  him, — between  willing,  active  service  rendered 
to  God,  and  hostility,  war,  against  him—'*  He  that  is  not 
with  me  is  against  me ;  and  he  that  gathereth  not  with 
me  scattereth  abroad."  He  who  prefers  his  own  ease 
before  the  honour,  authority,  interest,  of  God,  fights  to 
tho  utmost  of  his  power  against  his  Being  and  Life. 
Nor  will  the  condemnation  of  the  judgment-day  turn  on 
aught  else  than  just  such  a  negative  iniquity,  *'  They 
came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord" — ''Ye  did  it  not  to 
me" — "If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let 
him  be  Anathema  Maranatha." 


THE  DOOil  OF  MEROZ.  67 

(4.)  I  only  add  on  tlie  sin,  that  it  is  marked  as  a  special 
aggravation  of  it  that  it  was  to  *'  the  help  of  the  Lord 
against  the  mighty^^  they  refused  to  come — against  the 
mighty.  Had  the  enemy,  that  is  to  say,  been  a  feeble, 
contemptible  one  in  numbers  and  strength,  they  might 
have  had  some  plausible  pretext  for  leaving  the  struggle 
to  others.  But  all  was  in  reality  at  stake.  The  existence 
of  Israel  hung  in  the  balance.  The  enemy  was  in  the 
last  degree  formidable.  All  available  help  was  required. 
Yet,  in  this  crisis  of  their  country's,  and  of  the  Church's, 
history,  the  inhabitants  of  Meroz  *'came  not  to  the  help 
of  the  Lord,  to  the  heli")  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty." 

II.  Lut  now  we  look,  secondly,  and  more  briefly,  at  the 
julgment, — the  judgment  of  the  Lord  against  the  men  of 
Meroz  for  this  sin  :  ''  Curse  jq  Meroz,  said  the  angel  of 
the  Lord ;  curse  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants  thereof;  because 
they  came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the 
Lord  against  the  mighty."  There  can  be  very  little  doubt, 
from  the  prominence  given  to  Meroz  here,  that,  in  the  days 
of  Deborah,  it  must  have  been  a  place,  a  town,  of  very 
considerable  size  and  importance.  Yet  we  find  no  mention 
anywhere  made  of  it  after  this  time.  And  it  is  every  way 
probable  that  soon  after  this  period,  in  God's  righteous 
judgment,  and  in  execution  of  this  very  curse,  it  had 
become  the  subject  of  some  desolating  infliction,  that  had 
blotted  the  name  and  remembrance  of  it  out  from  under 
heaven,  "Curse  ye  Meroz" — and  yet  "there  is  none 
good  but  One,  that  is  God  "— "  curse  ye  Meroz,  said  the 
angel  of  the  Lord;  cuj'se  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants 
thereof ;  because  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord, 
to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty." 

It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  however,  that  other  and 
very  considerable  sections  of  the  Israelites  seem  to  have 
been  involved  in  the  same  sin,  more  or  less,  with  the  men 
of  Meroz ;  yet  we  do  not  find  the  same  curse  denounced 


68  THE  DOOM  OF  MEEOZ. 

against  tliem.  Thus,  in  the  fifteenth,  verse,  after  a  com- 
mendation of  the  tribe  of  Issachar,  "  The  princes  of 
Issachar  were  with  Deborah;  even  Issachar,  and  also 
Barak  :  he  was  sent  on  foot  into  the  valley,"  it  is  added, 
"  Por  the  divisions  of  Eeuben  there  were  great  thoughts 
of  heart.  Why  abodest  thou  among  the  sheep-folds,  to 
hear  the  bleatings  of  the  flocks?  For  the  divisions  of 
Keuben,  there  were  great  searchings  of  heart.  Gilead 
abode  beyond  Jordan:  and  why  did  Dan  remain  in  ships? 
Asher  continued  on  the  sea-shore,  and  abode  in  his 
breaches."  A  fine  contrast  follows  in  the  eighteenth 
verse, ' '  Zebulun  and  Naphtali  were  a  people  that  jeoparded 
their  lives  unto  the  death  in  the  high  places  of  the  field." 
I  think  there  can  be  very  little  doubt  that  there  must 
have  been  some  special  aggravation  in  the  case  of  Meroz 
which  has  not  been  placed  on  record — perhaps  its  having 
been  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  field  of 
action,  together  with  some  more  express  and  emphatic 
treachery  of  dealing  in  its  refusal  of  aid.  At  the  same 
time  I  am  well  satisfied  that  the  Holy  Ghost  does  not 
record  the  case  of  Meroz  here  as  some  rarely  exceptional 
one,  but  rather  singles  it  out  in  order  to  place  in  bolder 
relief,  by  one  striking  example,  the  whole  class  of  cases 
— alas !  too,  too  numerous — to  which  it  belongs.  This 
much  is  certain,  that  the  curse  of  Meroz  was  but  the 
harbinger,  a  kind  of  anticipative  specimen,  of  that  wide- 
spreading  doom, — in  which  the  Lord  grant  that  none  of 
us  may  share  ! — "  Then  shall  the  King  say  to  them  on 
his  left  hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting 
fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels  :  for  I  was  an 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat :  I  was  thirsty,  and 
ye  gave  no  drink  :  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not 
in :  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not :  sick  and  in  ]3i'ison, 
and  ye  visited  me  not."  ''  If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  let  him  be  Anathema  Maranatha  " — accursed 
at  the  coming  of  the  Lord.     "  Curse  ye  Meroz,  said  the 


THE  DOOM  OF  MEROZ.  69 

angel  of  the  Lord;  ciirso  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants 
thereof;  because  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord, 
to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty." 

III.  But  I  am  thus  led,  finally,  to  touch  on  one  or  two 
practical  lessons  arising  out  of  the  whole.  There  are,  in- 
deed, doctrinal  lessons  which  might  have  been  mentioned, 
such  as  the  marvellous  oneness  between  the  Lord  and  his 
people,  and  his  rich  condescension  and  grace,  seen  in  the 
very  using  of  words  like  *'  coming  to  the  help  of  the  Lord." 
But  I  limit  myself  to  three  immediately  practical  lessons. 

1 .  And  fii'st,  a  lesson  of  duty — very  urgent  duty.  It  will 
help  to  bring  both  the  duty  and  the  urgency  of  it  better 
out,  if  it  is  borne  in  mind  that,  from  the  fall  of  our 
race  downwards, — from  the  hour  of  the  first  sin,  and  of 
the  first  covenant  promise,  *'  I  will  put  enmity  between 
thee  and  the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed ; 
it  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel," 
the  Lord  has  had  a  controversy,  so  to  speak, — a  quarrel 
in  this  fallen  world, — a  war  with  mighty  adversaries, 
Satan,  sin,  the  world  that  lieth  in  the  wicked  one — his 
gracious  purpose  having  all  along  been  in  that  war  to 
call  a  people  out  of  the  world  for  the  glory  of  liis  own 
name, — an  innumerable  multitude  of  all  kindreds,  and 
peoples,  and  tongues,  to  be  "  washed,  and  sanctified,  and 
justified,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  spirit 
of  our  God."  Just  glance  at  those  words  of  Deborah, 
describing  the  deep  desolation  of  Israel,  in  the  sixth 
and  seventh  verses,  "In  the  days  of  Sliamgar,  the 
son  of  Anath,  in  the  days  of  Jael,  the  highways  were 
unoccupied,  and  the  travellers  walked  through  byways. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  villages  ceased,  they  ceased 
in  Israel,  until"  and  so  on.  Some  faint,  very  faint, 
shadow  this,  of  the  spiritual  profound  desolation  of  this 
world  lying  in  wickedness,  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins 
— the  two   hundred   millions,    for  example,    of   India's 


70  THE  DOOM  OF  MEEOZ. 

lieatlien ;  or  China,  witli  lier  four  hundred  millions ;  or 
our  own  great  cities,  London,  Glasgow,  &c.,  with  their 
multitudes  estranged  from  all  the  decencies  even,   and 
outward    observances,    of    religion.       Well;     and    God 
uses  instruments  for  the  saving  of  the  lost  everywhere, 
"  Go  ye,  and  teach   all  nations,  baptizing  them  in   the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."     And  although  all  cannot  go  in  person  to  fight 
this  battle  of  the  Lord,  all  can  do  very  much,  by  prayers, 
by  pecuniary  gifts,  and  in  other  ways,  for  the  fulfilling  of 
the  commission,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  eyerj  creature."     But,  alas!  how  often  are 
men,  of  whom  from  their  profession  other  things  might 
be  expected,  found  coolly  saying,  That  is  not  our  work — 
complacently  within  their  hearts  saying,  We  injure  no 
one, — we  lead  a  quiet  and  harmless  life.     Well;   there 
are  different  views  of  what  injury,  harm,  is.     God  has 
his  view  of  this,  and  men   have  theirs.     But   be  it  so. 
Yet,  if  the  blessed  God  has  condescended  to  make  the 
reclaiming  of  those   multitudes   at   home,   and   millions 
upon  millions  abroad,  his  peculiar  battle,  and  you  refuse 
to  bear  your  share   in   it;    if  he  has  condescended  to 
espouse  this  as   his  own  quarrel  and  cause,  and,  using 
instrumentality,   has  sent   forth   commands   which   have 
reached  to  you,  lajdng  you  and  your  means  and  prayers 
and  services  all  under  tribute,  then  is  your  duty  just  as 
plain  as  was  that  of  the   inhabitants  of  Meroz.     Then 
must  you  needs  share  in  their  guilt  and  in  their  doom, 
refusing  to  give  ^-ourselves  to  the  discharge  of  it.     Then 
the  same  criminal  distrust  of  God,  the  same  vile  prefer- 
ence of  your  own  ease  to  his  honour,  authority,  interest ; 
the  same  enmity  to  Him,  the  same  aggravated  refusal  to 
come  to  his  help  against  the  mighty,  and  the  same  curse, 
or  a  bitterer  one,  must  rest  on  your  heads  as  rested  on 
theirs.     Oh,  how  vain  and   hollow  all  the   pleas   which 
men  are  fain  to  set  up  for  themselves  in  this  matter !     At 


THE  DOOM  OF  MEROZ.  71 

best  tliey  run  up  into  tlio  first  murderer's  question.  But, 
supposing  it  conceded  that  you  are  not  your  brother's 
keeper,  at  least  you  are  the  subjects  and  servants  of  tlio 
living  God ;  and  the  fearful  charge  he  brings  here 
against  those  I  now  address  is  this,  that  **  they  have  not 
come  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord 
against  the  mighty."  It  Tvas  to  small  purpose  that  the 
unprofitable  servant  said,  **Iwas  afraid,  and  went  and 
hid  thy  talent  in  the  earth ;  lo,  there  thou  hast  that  is 
thine  " — I  have  harmed  no  one — God  had  no  need  of 
m}"  poor  services.  "Thou  wicked  and  slothful  servant, 
thou  knewest  " — didst  thou? — ''that  I  reap  where  I 
have  not  sown,  and  gather  where  I  have  not  strawed. 
Thou  oughtest  therefore  to  have  put  my  money  to  the 
exchangers,  and  then  at  my  coming  I  should  have 
received  mine  own  with  usury.  Cast  ye  the  unprofitable 
servant" — not  the  profligate,  the  thief,  the  drunkard, 
but  the  unprofitable  servant — "  into  outer  darkness.'* 
How  replete  with  duty,  in  short, — urgent  paramount 
dut}",  are  these  words,  "  Curse  ye  Meroz,  said  the  angel 
of  the  Lord ;  curse  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants  thereof ; 
because  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty  "  ! 

2.  But  observe  a  second  lesson  of  a  different  character, 
one  of  precious  and  varied  encouragement,  to  all  such  as 
are  disposed,  humbly,  yet  resolutely  and  prayerfully,  to 
offer  themselves  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  might3\ 
See,  for  example,  how  he  will  condescend  to  receive  and 
welcome  your  aid.  Road  the  ninth  verse  of  this  song  of 
Deborah,  "My  heart" — ah,  what  was  the  heart  of  De- 
borah but  a  shadow  of  the  heart  of  God? — "  My  heart 
is  toward  the  governors  of  Israel,  that  offered  themselves 
willingly  among  the  people.  Bless  ye  the  Lord  " :  and  the 
second  verse,  "  Praise  ye  tlie  Lord  for  the  avenging  of 
Israel,  when  the  people  willingly  offered  themselves."  And 
see  the  grateful  mention,  if  I  might  so  sj)eak  with  reverence, 


72  THE  DOOM  OF  MEROZ. 

which.  God  makes  of  particular  services.  Yer.  14.  *'  Out 
of  Ephraim  was  there  a  root  of  them  against  Amalek ; 
after  thee,  Benjamin,  among  thy  people  :  out  of  Machir 
(Manasseh)  came  down  governors,  and  out  of  Zebulun 
they  that  handle  the  pen  of  the  writer."  It  seems  that, 
besides  the  services  which  were  common  to  all,  each 
could  offer  something  special  to  himself — "out  of  Zebulun 
they  that  handle  the  pen  of  the  writer.  And  the  princes 
of  Issachar  were  with  Deborah.  .  .  .  Zebulun  and 
Naphtali  were  a  people  that  jeoparded  their  lives  unto  the 
death  in  the  high  places  of  the  field."  But  the  grand  en- 
couragement here  lies  in  this  same  expression,  "the  help 
of  the  Lord," — "coming  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  "which  tells 
of  the  guilt  and  doom  of  those  who  refuse  to  come  to  it 
Oh,  is  it  to  the  help  of  the  Almighty  God  you  seek  to  come, 
dear  brethren?  Then  you  may  well,  I  think,  thank  God, 
and  take  courage.  Then,  be  not  afraid  nor  dismayed  by 
reason  of  this  great  multitude  ;  for  the  battle  is  not  yours, 
but  God's — there  be  more  with  you  than  with  them. 
Then  may  you  pray,  and  give,  and  labour,  in  the  happy 
confiding  spirit  of  those  words,  "  God  hath  spoken  in  his 
holiness,  I  will  rejoice," — "  Arise,  0  God,  plead  thine 
own  cause," — "  Lord  it  is  nothing  with  thee  to  help, 
whether  with  many  or  with  them  that  have  no  power ; 
help  us  0  Lord  our  God,  for  we  rest  on  thee,  and  in  thy 
name  we  go  against  this  multitude.  0  Lord,  thou  art 
our  God ;  let  not  man  prevail  against  Thee."  Is  it  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  you  seek  to  come  ?  Then  are  you  per- 
mitted even  to  anticipate  a  glorious  reward  of  services, 
which  might  well,  indeed,  be  their  own  sufficient  reward. 
But  the  Lord,  in  his  matchless  grace,  is  pleased  to  crown 
them  with  an  everlasting  blessedness  and  glory,  "  Then 
shall  the  King  say  imto  them  on  his  right  hand.  Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for 
you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world :  for  I  was  an 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye 


THE  DOOM  OF  MEROZ,  7,3 

gave  me  drink ;  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in ; 
naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  ;  I  was  sick  and  ye  visited  me  ; 
I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me  .  .  .  inasmuch  as  ye 
did  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did 
it  unto  me." 

3.  But  once  more  wo  have  a  lesson  here  of  solemn 
warning — duty,  encouragement,  tvarning.  I  expressed 
the  persuasion  a  little  ago,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  does 
not  set  down  the  case  of  Meroz  here  as  some  rarely  excep- 
tional one,  but  rather  singles  it  forth  to  place  in  bolder 
relief,  by  an  example,  the  whole  class  of  cases  to 
which  it  belongs — a  class  so  fearfully  numerous  that 
wo  have  cause  indeed  to  say,  each  one  of  us,  Lord, 
is  it  mine?  cause  to  tremble  lest  we  should  bo  found 
under  the  guilt  and  doom  of  Meroz, — found  in  that  vast 
company  to  whom,  on  his  left  hand,  the  King  will  say, 
"Ye  did  it  not  to  me."  For,  brethren,  you  will  not 
fail  to  observe  that  it  is  by  no  means  any  and  every 
kind  of  help  and  service  that  will  suffice  to  separate 
us  from  the  class,  and  save  us  from  the  curse,  of  the  in- 
habitants of  Meroz.  A  man  may  come,  for  example,  witli 
a  help  so  stinted  and  grudging  as  to  make  it  quite  mani- 
fest that  it  is  but  the  covering  up  of  a  desire  to  be  let 
alone  altogether.  Or  he  may  come  with  a  help  not  so 
stinted  in  the  simple  amount  of  it,  yet  not  offered  to  the 
Lord  himself,  which  is  the  hinge,  you  will  carefully' observe, 
of  this  whole  matter,  *'tlicy  came  not  to  the  Iic-lp  of  the 
Lord"— "Ye  did  it,"  or,  "ye  did  it  not,  to  me:'  How 
deeply  solemn  the  thought  that,  if  there  is  the  richest 
condescension  in  such  a  mode  of  speech  as  "coming  to 
the  help  of  the  Lord,"  it  is  a  condescension  which  has, 
however,  its  two  entirely  different  and  opposite  aspects, 
according  as  it  is  felt,  appreciated,  embraced,  on  the  one 
hand,  or  despised  and  rejected,  on  the  otlior!  Assurcclh', 
by  how  much  the  Lord  has  revealed  his  condescension 
and  grace,  in  making  offer  to  us  of  so  marvellous  a  one- 


7i  THE  DOOM  OF  MEROZ. 

ness  of  cause  and  interest  and  blessedness  witli  Himself, 
by  so  much,  tlie  more  aggravated  a  judgment  and  doom 
must  the  contempt  and  rejection  of  that  grace  bring  with 
it.  **  Curse  ye  Meroz  " — fearful  words,  beloved,  but  very 
gracious  ones  also,  considered  as  set  down  for  no  other 
end  than  to  shut  us  the  more  up  to  Him  who  redeemeth 
his  people  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  having  been  made  a 
curse  for  them, — who  is  made  of  God  to  as  many  as  put 
their  trust  in  him,  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanc- 
tification,  and  redemption — the  very  same  Angel  of  the 
covenant,  I  doubt  not,  who  is  the  speaker  in  the  text, 
and  will  one  day  sit  on  the  judgment-throne — Curse  ye 
Meroz,  said  the  angel  op  tue  Lord  ;  curse  ye  bitterly 

THE  inhabitants  THEREOF;  BECAUSE  THEY  CAME  NOT  TO  THE 
HELP  OF  THE  LORD,  TO  THE  HELP  OF  THE  LoilD  AGAINST 
THE  MIGHIY. 


I 


VII. 

LYING  ON  JESUS*  BREAST. 

*'-A"o?t7  there  icas  leaning  on  Jesus'  bosom  one  of  his 
disciples,  lohom  Jesus  loved.  Simon  Peter  therefore 
beckoned  to  him,  that  he  should  ash  who  it  shoidd  be  of 
whom  he  spake.  lie  tJien  lying  on  Jesus'  breast,  saith 
unto  him,  Lord,  who  is  it?" — John  xiii.  23-25.  Text 
— "He  lying  on  Jesus'  breast.'^ 

You  observe  that  this  circumstance  respecting  the  be- 
loved disciple  is  twice  noted  in  these  verses — "there 
was  leaning  on  Jesus'  bosom  one  of  his  disciples;"  "he 
lying  on  Jesus'  breast,  saith  unto  him:"  and  yet  again 
towards  the  close  of  this  Grospel  we  read,  "  Peter,  turning 
about,  seeth  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved  following ; 
which  also  leaned  on  his  breast  at  supper,  and  said.  Lord, 
which  is  he  that  betrayeth  thee?" 

If  we  bring  up  before  our  minds  that  last  supper,  and 
the  company  which  sat  at  that  table,  I  think  we  might 
conceive  somehow  thus  of  the  circumstance  in  the  text. 
The  Lord,  loving  John  above  all  the  others,  might 
naturally  wish  him  to  be  seated  near,  next,  to  him  in  that 
hour  of  sorrow  and  tender  affection.  Then  John,  drawn 
by  his  love  to  Jesus,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Master's 
ineffable  benignity  of  mien  and  discourse  upon  the  other, 
might  venture,  all  but  unconsciously  at  first,  to  lay  his 
head  somewhat  on  the  bosom  of  that  Master;  and,  partly, 
lie  might  condescend  at  such  a  time  to  place  his  arm 
more  or  less  about  the  neck  of  the  disciple  seated  by  him 


76 


LYIN-G  ON  JESUS'  BEEAST. 


— thus  in  effect  inviting  and  drawing  tlie  reclining  on  his 
breast. 

I.  But  now,  may  we  not  be  able  without  much  difficulty 
to  get  at  the  state  of  mind  and  heart,  on  either  side,  of 
which  this  attitude  was  the  expression,  and  out  of  which 
it  came  ? 

1.  On  the  side  of  the  disciple,  first,  surely  it  told  of  a 
holy,  unsuspecting,  childlike  trust,  reliance  on  the  Lord 
Jesus — "  he  lying  on  Jesus'  breast."  John  leans  his  head, 
in  this  night  of  deep  anxiety  and  sorrow,  on  the  bosom  of 
Christ.  "Was  it  not  the  very  embodying  of  that  word, 
''Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled;  ye  believe  in  God, 
believe  also  in  me  ?" — he  lying  on  Jesus'  breast.  Doubt- 
less John  was  tried,  like  the  others  that  night,  with 
many  a  difficulty, — many  a  painful  foreboding  for  the 
future.  Had  any  one  officiously  then  addressed  him, 
"  Knowest  thou  that  the  Lord  will  take  away  thy  Master 
from  thy  head?"  methinks  he  had  been  ready  to  answer 
with  one  of  old,  "  Yea,  I  know  it ;  hold  thou  thy  peace." 
Too  well  he  knows  it.  But  just  the  more  he  will  lean  his 
head  to-night,  if  permitted,  on  that  Master's  bosom.  He 
will  cast  his  care,  as  he  best  may,  on  this  mighty,  gracious 
One.  "There  was  leaning  on  Jesus'  bosom  one  of  his 
disciples,  whom  Jesus  loved." 

Ay,  and  who  loved  Jesus.  For,  assuredly,  if  there  was 
faith, — unsuspecting  confidence,  trust,  in  the  attitude,  yet 
more  j)lainly  there  was  love,  intense  affection  in  it — he 
lying  on  Jesus'  breast.  Oh,  it  is  heart  drawing  to  heart 
in  the  hour  of  deep  grief!  John  ventures  to  lay  his 
head  on  the  breast  of  the  Lord;  it  is  the  expression, 
manifestly,  of  ardent  love — springing  from  it,  telling  of  it. 
In  fact  the  two  feelings,  the  reliance  and  the  love,  the 
trust  and  the  afi'ection,  were  intimately  and  inseparably 
connected  together.  It  was  a  loving  reliance ;  and  it  was 
a  confiding  afi'ection.     The  "  faith  wrought  by  love ; "  and 


77 

tlio  loYO,  ''casting  out  fear,"  cmLoldcncd  tlio  faith.  All 
the  blessed  safety  which  the  faith,  in  the  face  of  a  dark 
unknown  future,  apprehended  and  realized  from  the  arm 
and  from  the  heart  of  Jesus,  drew  forth  a  deeper  lovo 
toward  him ;  while  the  lovo  would  not  suffer  any  ques- 
tioning of  the  trustworthiness  of  its  Object,  and  so  upheld, 
in  its  turn,  and  strengthened  the  faith. 

2.  "Well,  but  if  the  lying  on  Jesus'  breast  told  thus  of 
certain  great  feelings  on  the  side  of  the  disciple,  it  no  less 
told  of  corresponding  ones  on  the  side  of  the  glorious 
Master  who  permitted,  and  in  effect  invited,  it.  Did  it  not 
tell,  I  venture  to  ask,  even  of  a  certain  counterpart  con- 
fidence, trust,  reposed  by  Christ  in  the  disciple?  Jesus 
suffers  him  to  lean  his  head  upon  his  bosom.  Ah !  this 
is  not  to  be  the  traitor — treason  never  shall  find  an 
entrance  within  this  man's  soul.  No  doubt  it  is  written 
elsewhere,  ''behold,  he  putteth  no  trust  in  his  saints;" 
and,  certainly,  apart  from  his  own  grace  upholding  them, 
that  must  ever  hold  good  of  them  all.  But  we  find  such 
other  words  in  Scripture  as  these,  "Shall  I  hide  from 
Abraham  that  thing  which  I  do  ?  for  I  know  him" — 
"  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  him,  and 
he  will  show  them  his  covenant  " — "  If  there  be  a  j^i'ophet 
among  you,  I  the  Lord  will  make  myself  known  to  him  in 
a  vision.  My  servant  Moses  is  not  so,  who  is  faithful  in 
all  mine  house ;  with  him  will  I  speak  mouth  to  mouth, 
even  apparently,  and  not  in  dark  speeches  " — "  God  spake 
to  Moses  as  a  man  speaketh  unto  his  friend."  There  was, 
I  say,  a  certain  confidence  in  John,  implied  in  the  Lord's 
permitting  him  to  lean  his  head  upon  his  bosom. 

But  still  more  obviously  the  i)ermission  told  of  Clu-ist's 
affection,  intense  affection,  for  John.  0  yes,  if  the  leaning 
bespoke  John's  affection  for  Jesus,  at  least  as  much  it  be- 
spoke the  affection  of  Jesus  for  John.  You  recollect  that 
word  in  Nathan's  touching  parable.  "  The  poor  man  had 
nothing,  save  one  little  ewe  lamb,  which  ho  had  bought 


78  LYING  ON  JESUS    BREAST. 

and  nourislied  up  ;  and  it  grew  up  together  witli  him,  and 
with  his  children  ;  it  did  eat  of  his  own  meat,  and  drank 
of  his  own  cup,  and  lay  in  his  bosom."  Manifestly  John's 
being  permitted  to  lean  on  the  bosom  of  Jesus  told  that  he 
was  eminently  *'  the  disciple  whom  he  loved."  Not  that 
the  Lord  loved  John  with  any  higher  love  of  henevolence 
than  he  did  the  other  disciples.  If  we  look  to  the  love 
spoken  in  all  such  expressions  as,  "Christ  loved  the 
Church,  and  gave  himself  for  it" — "To  him  that  loved 
us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood " 
— "  Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man 
lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends" — we  can  scarce  con- 
ceive this  love  of  compassion,  pity,  benevolence,  being 
other  than  equally  great  towards  all  the  members  of  the 
ransomed  Church,  of  every  country  and  age.  Plainly  it 
is  satisfaction, — it  is  delight,  complacency,  in  John  that  is 
spoken  of  in  the  expression  "  the  disci2')le  whom  Jesus 
loved,"  and  which  came  out  divinely  in  the  permission  to 
lean  his  head  upon  his  bosom. 

Now  I  do  not  enter  here  into  the  inquiry  what  the 
grounds  and  sources  were  of  this  special  complacency  in 
John.  If  this  belonged  to  my  j)urpose,  it  might  be  shewn 
very  easily  how  far,  very  far,  it  was  from  having  any 
faultlessness  of  his  character  for  its  source.  We  find 
'the  Evangelists  recording  instances  of  marked  imper- 
fection in  this  disciple, — instances,  I  may  in  passing 
say,  peculiarly  unlike  that  mere  natural  gentleness  of 
temper  which  has  come  somehow — but  it  seems  to  me  on 
most  inadequate  grounds — to  be  associated  with  John,  and 
with  the  Lord's  special  affection  for  him.  Without 
questioning  at  all  that  he  was  distinguished,  and  above 
all  the  others,  for  love,  I  am  persuaded  that  the  Lord's 
peculiar  affection  for  him  must  have  had  reference  to 
that  love,  however,  not  as  connected  with  any  mere 
natural  gentleness  of  spirit,  but  as  the  result  of  the 
deeper  working  in  his  heart  of  those  gracious,  super- 


LYING  ON  JESUS'  BREAST.  79 

natural  principles  wliicli  ever  drew  our  Lord's  love  and 
admiration, — as  wlion,  for  instance,  lie  said  of  Mary  of 
Bethany,  ''Why  trouble  ye  the  woman?  She  hath 
wrought  a  good  work  on  mo.  Wheresoever  this  gospel 
shall  be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  there  shall  also 
this  that  this  woman  hath  done  be  told  for  a  memorial  of 
her;"  or  when,  marvelling  at  the  Gentile  centurion,  he 
said  of  him,  *'I  have  not  found  so  great  faith,  no,  not  in 
Israel."  Without,  however,  enlarging  on  the  grounds  of 
the  peculiar  affection  for  John,  suffice  it  to  note  the  fact 
that  his  leaning  on  Christ's  bosom — as  it  told  of  the  dis- 
ciple's unsuspecting  reliance  on  the  Lord,  and  deep  love 
to  him,  on  tlie^one  side — assuredly  told,  on  the  other,  of 
Christ's  confidence,  in  a  sort,  and  peculiar  complacency, 
in  the  disciple. 

II.  But  now,  brethren,  I  am  greatly  mistaken  if  our 
text  does  not  admit  of  being  turned  to  extensive  use,  far 
beyond  the  case  of  the  disciple  immediately  referred  to  in 
it.  For,  is  there  no  such  thing  as  leaning  on  the  bosom 
of  Christ  still  ?  I  trust  indeed  there  is  ;  ay,  and  if  not  in 
precisely  the  same  manner  as  at  the  last  supper  of  old,  yet 
not  only  as  truly,  but  after  a  manner  still  more  blessed  and 
glorious.  This  is  certain  at  least,  that  one  disciple  only 
could  lean  as  did  John  on  the  outward  bosom  of  the  Lord. 
But  we  may  now  find  that  tliis  is  a  privilege,  a  happi- 
ness, accessible  at  this  hour,  in  the  essence  and  soul 
of  it,  even  to  as  many  as  shall  truly  aspire  after  it. 

Generally  here  you  might  turn  for  a  moment  with  me 
to  a  passage  in  the  twentieth  of  this  Gospel,  at  the  15th 
verse: — ''Jesus  saith  unto  her.  Woman,  why  weepest 
thou?  whom  seokest  thou?  She,  supposing  him  to  be 
the  gardener,  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  if  thou  have  borne  him 
hence,  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him,  and  I  will  take 
him  away.  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Mary.  She  turned 
herself,  and  saith  unto  him,  Eabboni;  which  is  to  say, 


80  LYING  ON  JESUS'  BEEAST. 

Master."  Tlien  observe  what  follows  : — ''  Jesus  saith. unto 
hev,  Touch,  me  not;  for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  to  my 
Father :  but  go  to  my  brethren,  and  say  unto  them,  1 
ascend  unto  my  Father,  and  your  Father;  and  to  my 
God,  and  your  God."  Touch  me  not;  for  I  am  not  yet 
ascended  to  my  Father.  I  apprehend  that  the  meaning 
of  this  is  not,  Touch  me  not, — stay  not  at  present  with 
me,  for  there  will  be  time  enough  before  I  ascend  to  my 
Father.  But  rather,  on  the  contrar}^,  the  thought  is, 
that  while  Mary,  in  the  ardour  of  her  affection,  was 
"holding  the  Lord  by  the  feet,"  as  another  Evangelist 
tells  us,  he  gently  discourages  it,  intimating  that  there 
will  be  ample  time  and  ample  room  after  his  ascension, 
for  all  possible  intimacj^,  and  familiarity  of  holy  spiritual 
converse,  with  him — and  that,  too,  for  all  genuine  dis- 
ciples together.  "  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Touch  me  not,  for 
I  am  not  yet  ascended  to  my  Father  " — there  will  be  freer 
scope  then  for  even  leaning  the  weary  head  on  my  breast 
for  ever — "  touch  me  not,  for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  to 
my  Father  :  but  go  to  my  brethren,  and  say  unto  them,  I 
ascend  unto  my  Father,  and  your  Father;  and  to  my 
God,  and  your  God." 

1 .  A  little  more  particularly,  however,  and  again  look- 
ing, for  a  moment  or  two,  at  the  expression,  "belying 
on  Jesus'  breast,"  have  we  found  that  the  soul  of  this 
attitude,  as  on  the  disciple's  side,  first  of  all,  lay  partly 
in  a  holy,  imsuspecting,  child-like  trust,  reliance  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  ?  Then  have  we  the  attitude  still, — in  every 
age, — in  the  spirit  of  all  such  words  as  these,  "  I  will  go 
in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  God ;  I  will  make  mention  of 
thy  righteousness,  even  of  thine  only" — He  lying  on 
Jesus'  breast.  "  My  soul  followeth  hard  after  thee  ;  thy 
right  hand  upholdeth  me :  "  "  Eefuge  failed  me  ;  I  cried 
unto  thee,  0  Lord ;  I  said.  Thou  art  my  refuge,  and  my 
portion  in  the  land  of  the  living  " — He  lying  on  Jesus' 
breast.     * '  I   am   crucified  with   Christ :    nevertheless   I 


LYING  ON  JESUS    BREAST.  81 

live  :  5^et  not  I,  but  Christ  livetli  in  me :  and  tlie  life 
M'liicli  I  now  live  in  the  llesli  I  live  by  the  faitli  of  the 
ISon  of  God,  wlio  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for  me." 
"Lord,  my  heart  is  not  hauglity,  nor  mine  eyes  lofty: 
neither  do  I  exercise  mj-self  in  great  matters,  or  in  things 
too  high  for  me.  Surely  I  have  behaved  and  quieted 
myself,  as  a  child  that  is  Aveaned  of  his  mother :  my  soul 
is  even  as  a  weaned  child.  Let  Israel  hope  in  the  Lord 
from  henceforth  and  for  ever." — He  lying  on  Jesus' 
breast. 

But  sometimes,  out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings, 
more  literally,  the  Lord  is  pleased  to  perfect  his  own  praise, 
that  he  may  still  the  enemy  and  the  avenger.  Many 
years  ago  I  was  visiting  a  sick  dying  boy  of  the  con- 
gregation. He  lay  weary  on  his  pillow,  near  his  end.  I 
scarce  hoped  to  make  him  understand  me — he  was  not  six 
years  of  age.  But  thinking  I  might  make  an  attempt,  after 
short  pra^'er,  I  said  to  him,  "Charlie,  you  are  resting 
your  head  on  the  pillow ;  try  and  rest  on  Jesus,  as  3'ou 
are  resting  on  the  pillow."  I  came  awaj^  with  little  hope 
that  he  had  even  understood  me.  Next  day  his  father 
told  me  that,  on  going  up  to  the  little  crib  several  hours 
after  my  visit,  and  without  making  any  reference  to  it,  he 
said  to  him,  "Ai'O  you  resting  on  Jesus,  dear?"  He 
immediately  answered,  *'Soft  pillow."  It  was  his  only 
rej)ly,  **  soft  pillow  ! "  Ah,  that  is  it  from  the  lips  of  tlio 
dying  boy — unsuspecting  reliance,  ''soft  pillow" — He 
lying  on  Jesus'  breast ! 

But  then,  besides  the  reliance,  we  found  the  soul  of  this 
attitude  in  the  other  element  of  love  also,  going  along  with 
the  reliance,  springing  out  of  it,  yet  strengthening  it  in 
turn — each  ministering  to  the  other, — the  faith  the  parent 
of  the  love,  and  the  love  nourishing  in  turn  the  parent, 
the  faith,  that  begets  it.  Leaning  on  the  breast  assuredly 
tells  of  love, — leaning  on  the  heart,  as  it  were,  the  ever- 
lasting affection,  of  Jesus.     And  thus  have  we  not  the 


82  LYING  ON  JESUS'  BREAST. 

love  also,  still, — in  every  age, — and  in  blessed  harmony 
with  the  words  to  Mary,  ''Touch  me  not,  for  I  am  not  yet 
ascended  to  my  Father,  but  go  to  my  bretiiren,  and  say 
unto  them,  I  ascend  unto  my  Father  and  your  Father; 
and  to  my  God  and  your  God  "?  0  yes,  here  it  is — '*  Let 
him  kiss  me  with  the  kisses  of  his  mouth."  *'My  beloved 
is  mine,  and  I  am  his  " — faith  and  love  hand  in  hand, — 
loving  faith,  confiding  love.  *'  I  will  seek  Him  whom  my 
soul  loveth."  "Who  is  this  that  cometh  up  from  the 
wilderness,  leaning  on  her  beloved?" 

2.  But  remember  what  we  found  as  to  John's  leaning 
on  the  breast  of  Jesus, — how  it  told  not  only  of  his  feel- 
ings towards  the  Lord,  but  of  the  Lord's  also  towards 
him.  And,  in  like  manner,  is  the  leaning  of  disciples 
still,  only  in  part  by  their  faith  in  the  Lord,  and  their  love 
to  him.  It  is  by  his  welcoming  also,  just  as  of  old, — 
permitting,  reciprocating,  their  feelings  towards  him,  in  a 
blessed  corresponding  confidence,  as  it  were,  and  com- 
placency, in  them.  Let  it  not  seem  that  here  at  least, — 
as  respects  Christ's  sjoecial  confidence  and  complacency, 
all  must  have  been  peculiar  to  John.  No  doubt  Christ 
could  offer  his  outward  breast  at  the  supper  to  only  one 
head;  and  further  true,  that,  of  the  eleven  disciples,  John 
was  the  best  beloved.  But  may  there  not  have  been, 
since  that  time,  disciples  equally  beloved  even  with  John 
— possibly  some  very  much  unknown  ones, — devoted, 
burning,  ''doing  what  they  could"  for  Christ  and  his 
cause  ?  But  what  chiefly  has  to  be  fixed  in  our  minds 
here,  is  Christ's  gracious  special  confidence  and  compla- 
cency in  all  such  as,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  following  him 
fully,"  have  for  their  spirit  the  psalmist's  "Whom  have 
I  in  heaven  but  thee  ?  and  there  is  none  upon  earth  that 
I  desire  beside  thee."  That  he  still  continues  to  place  in 
all  such  a  wondrous  confidence,  so  to  speak,  and  to 
cherish  towards  them  a  peculiar  complacency,  he  declares 
expressly  in  the  following  words,  "He  that  hath  my  com- 


83 

manclmonts,  and  kcopcth  thorn,  ho  it  is  that  lovcth  mo ; 
and  ho  that  lovcth  mo  shall  be  lovod  of  my  Father,  and  I 
will  love  him,  and  will  manifest  myself  to  him.  Judas 
saith  unto  him  (not  Iscariot),  Lord,  how  is  it  that  thou 
wilt  manifest  thyself  unto  us,  and  not  unto  the  world  ? 
Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him.  If  a  man  love  me,  ho 
Mill  keep  my  words :  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and 
wo  will  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him." 
"  How  fair  is  thy  love,  my  sister,  my  spouse !  how  much 
better  is  thy  love  than  wine !  and  the  smell  of  thine  oint- 
ments tlian  all  spices  !  "  ''  Thou  hast  ravished  my  heart, 
my  sister,  my  sj^ouse  ;  thou  hast  ravished  my  heart  with 
one  of  thine  eyes,  with  one  chain  of  thy  neck."  *'  Thou 
art  all  fair,  my  love,  there  is  no  spot  in  thee." 

I  said  that  the  **  leaning  "  might  be  now  not  only  as 
real  as  at  the  last  supper  of  old,  but  in  a  manner  still 
more  blessed  and  glorious.  For  it  is  not  simply  that  one 
only  could  lean  there  and  thus ;  but,  in  intimate  connec- 
tion with  the  spirit  of  the  words  to  Mary,  *' touch  me 
not,  for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  to  my  Father,"  remember 
those  words  to  Thomas,  **  Because  thou  hast  seen  me, 
thou  hast  believed;  blessed  are  they" — blessed  in  still 
higher  degree — ''  who  have  not  seen,  and  jet  have  be- 
lieved ;  "  or  Peter's  words,  "Whom  having  not  seen  ye 
love ;  in  whom,  though  now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  be- 
lieving, ye  rejoice  with  joy  imspeakable  and  full  of 
glory." 

Altogether,  would  you  see  the  lying  on  Jesus'  breast, 
in  the  very  soul  of  it,  and  on  both  the  sides  together  ? 
There  it  is,  "I  am  the  rose  of  Sharon,  and  the  lily  of  the 
valleys.  As  the  lily  among  thorns,  so  is  my  love  among 
the  daughters.  As  the  apple-treo  among  tho  trees  of  tho 
wood,  so  is  my  beloved  among  the  sons.  I  sat  down 
under  his  shadow  with  great  delight,"  and  his  fruit  was 
sweet  to  my  taste.  He  brought  me  to  the  banqueting- 
house,  and  his  banner  over  me  was  love.     His  left  hand 


84  LYING  ON-  JESUS    BUEAST. 

is  under  my  head,  and  Lis  right  hand  doth  embrace  me. 
I  charge  you,  0  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  by  the  roes, 
and  by  the  hinds  of  the  field,  that  ye  stir  not  up,  nor 
awake  my  love,  till  he  please."  Perhaps,  in  a  more 
special  manner  at  the  Lord's  Supper,  still,  may  the  lying 
on  the  breast  be  known  and  realized.  Would  that  at  the 
table  of  communion  next  Sabbath,  it  might  be  known  in 
some  good  measure  among  ourselves  I  Yet  this  is  not  a 
privilege  confined  to  any  one  ordinance  or  season.  How 
much  cause  have  we  to  mourn  that  it  is  so  imperfectly  en- 
joyed by  us  from  day  to  day  !  Assuredly  the  bosom,  the 
heart,  of  Jesus  is  large  enough  to  receive  every  weary  head 
that  is  but  truly  ofl'ered  to  lean  on  it.  We  are  not 
straitened  in  Him.  Oh  that,  for  a  recompense  of  the  past, 
we  might  now  at  length  be  enlarged !  "I  am  the  Lord  ihj 
God,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ;  open 
thy  mouth  wide  and  I  will  fill  it."  "Ask,  and  ye  shall 
receive,  that  your  joy  may  be  full," — Ho  lying  on  Jesus' 
breast. 

A  closing  word  especially  to  the  young.  Eemember 
the  dying  boy  I  spoke  of, — what  I  said  to  him,  *'you 
are  resting  your  head  on  the  pillow ;  try  and  rest 
on  Jesus,  as  you  are  resting  on  the  pillow,"  and  his 
answer,  when  his  father  afterwards  asked  him,  "  Are 
you  resting  on  Jesua?"  *^Soft  pillow" — leaning  on 
Jesus,  loving  Jesus.  You  recollect  those  beautiful  words, 
"  He  shall  feed  his  fiock  like  a  shepherd,  he  shall  gather 
the  lambs  with  his  arm,  and  carry  them  in  his  bosom." 
Carry  them  in  his  bosom  ?  Then  Jesus  lets  you  lean  on 
his  bosom  ;  and  yow  may  have  the  very  privilege  and 
happiness  of  John,  the  beloved  disciple— He  lying  on 
Jesus'  breast! 

"  I  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus  say, — 
*  Come  unto  me  and  rest ; 
Lay  down,  thou  weary  one,  lay  down 
Thy  head  upon  my  breast. ' 


LYING  OX  JESUS'  BREAST.  85 

I  came  to  Jesus  as  I  was, 

\\'^eary,  and  -worn,  and  sad  : 
I  found  in  him  a  resting-place, 

And  lie  has  made  me  i'lad," 


IIe  lying  on  Jesus'  breast. 


YIII. 

A  COMMUNION  SABBATH'S  SERVICES. 

1.  Morning  Sermon. 

cnnis'i's  OWN  account  of  his  blood-shedding. 

"  This  Is  my  blood  of  the  new  testament  [covenant], 
which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins,^^ — 
Matt.  xxvi.  28. 

A  VERY  different  account  of  that  blood-shedding  was  to 
be  given  some  twelve  or  fourteen  hours  later,  when,  after 
the  apprehension  in  the  garden,  and  the  hurried  mock 
trials  of  the  early  morning  before  Caiaphas  and  Pontius 
Pilate,  that  blood  was  to  be  shed  by  deadliest  enemies, 
to  make  an  end,  if  j)ossible,  of  Jesus,  and  his  claims 
and  kingdom,  for  ever.  How  marvellous  that  this 
night  in  the  guest  chamber — although  those  things  had 
yet  to  intervene, — the  apprehension,  the  trials,  the 
sentence,  the  crucifixion,  —  Jesus,  in  calm  majestj^ 
speaks  of  his  blood  as  if  already  it  were  being 
shed,  and  shed  by  some  party  or  parties  wholly 
distinct  from  his  murderers,  and  for  ends  unutter- 
ably remote  from  all  their  thoughts  and  designs, 
"This  is  my  blood  of  the  new  covenant,"  says  he, 
"which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins!" 
The  paschal  supper  had  just  been  concluded.  Por  the 
last  time — legitimately  at  least — the  lamb  of  the  pass- 
over  had  been  slain,  its  blood  shed,  its  flesh  partaken 
of.      Another  Lamb   is  now  taking  the  place   of  that 


CKRISt's  OVfN  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  BLOOD-SnEDDIKG.  87 

and  all  tho  other  victims  of  tlio  law,  for  ever.  It  is  this 
Lamb  himself  whose  voice  we  hear  uttering  the  words  of 
the  text,  and  inviting  us — shall  I  not  say  ? — to  meditate 
for  a  little  on  them,  before  wo  shall  hear  them  again  as  from 
his  own  lips  at  his  table,  ''  This  is  my  blood  of  the  new 
covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins." 
I  mean  to  take  the  words,  very  simply,  in  three  ques- 
tions— first,  AVliose  was  this  blood  ?  second.  By  whom  was 
it  shed?  and,  third,  To  what  end  and  issue?  "Gird  tliy 
sword  upon  thy  thigh,  0  most  Mighty,  with  thy  glory  and 
th}^  majesty;  and  in  thy  majesty  ride  prosperously  for 
truth  and  meekness  and  righteousness;  and  thy  right 
hand  shall  teach  thee  terrible  things !  " 

I.  First,  "WTiose  blood  was  this  ?  Or,  in  other  words, 
Who  is  it  that  speaks,  saying,  '^  Mi/  blood,  shed  for  many 
for  the  remission  of  sins"  ?  Well ;  so  far  all  is  clear  and 
simple.  It  is  a  man,  of  course,  who  sits  at  that  table 
with  the  others.  John  leans  on  his  human  breast.  Peter, 
and  Thomas,  and  Philip,  and  Jude,  ask  questions  of  him, 
and  are  answered  with  human  lips.  He  speaks  of  his 
blood,  *'  My  hloody  This  is  no  angel,  at  least, — no 
**  ministering  spirit  sent  forth  to  minister  for  the  heirs  of 
salvation," — but  very  man — bone  of  our  bone,  and  flesh 
of  our  flesh.  Sliortly  before  he  had  said,  "  The  Son  of  man 
came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to 
give  his  life  a  ransom  for  man3\" 

But  how  ?  "  liis  life  a  ransom  for  many  "  ?  Had  it  not 
been  written  in  the  Psalms,  **None  of  them  can  by  any 
means  redeem  his  brother,  nor  give  to  God  a  ransom  for 
him"  ?  Granted  that  this  man,  unlike  all  other  men,  was 
entirely  sinless.  But  to  be  sinless  is  no  more  than  each 
and  every  man's  duty  for  himself.  How  shall  the  life  of 
a  sinless  man  become  ever  a  ransom-price  for  even  one 
sinful  brother — not  to  speak  of  a  world  ?  Oh,  but  turn 
back  with  me  for  a  moment  to  the  opening  chapter  of 


88        Christ's  own  account  of  nis  blood -shedding. 

this  Gospel,  and  read  of  the  birth  of  this  Man  thus, 
at  the  twenty-first  verse,  **She  shall  bring  forth  a  son, 
and  thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus;  for  he  shall  save 
his  people  from  their  sins.  Now  all  this  was  done, 
that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  of  the 
Lord  by  the  prophet,  saying,  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  be 
with  child,  and  shall  bring  forth  a  son,  and  they  shall 
call  his  name  Emmanuel,  which,  being  interpreted,  is, 
God  with  tjs."  They  are  Isaiah's  words,  a  chapter  or 
two  before  those  other  words,  "Unto  us  a  child  is  born, 
unto  us  a  son  is  given;  and  the  government  shall  be 
upon  his  shoulder;  and  his  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful, 
Counsellor,  The  mighty  God."  Behold  the  answer  to  our 
question.  Whose  blood  was  this  ?  The  blood  of  the 
God-man,  "Emmanuel,"  "The  second  man,  the  Lord 
from  heaven,"  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  "God  over 
all,  blessed  for  ever  "  ! 

Beloved,  it  has  long  been  to  my  mind  a  deep  joy 
to  find  the  Divinity  of  the  Man  whose  death  we  are 
to  celebrate  to  day,  not  written  more  expressly  in  such 
words  as  we  have  read  froDi  the  first  chaj)ter  of  this 
Gospel,  than  taken  palpably  for  granted  in  all  the  after 
ones — aSirmed  in  some  respects  more  strongly  by  being 
assumed  and  presupposed,  everywhere — as,  for  instance, 
when  John  the  Baptist  in  an  early  chapter  says  of  him, 
"He  that  cometh  after  me  is  mightier  than  I,  whose 
shoes'  latchet  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose;  he  shall  baptize 
you  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire  :  whose  fan  is  in 
his  hand," — the  Judge  of  the  world — "and  he  will 
thoroughly  purge  his  floor," — his  floor, — the  whole  visible 
Church,  it  seems,  is  his  property — "and  he  will  gather 
the  wheat  into  his  garner," — heaven  also  is  his, — his 
garner — "but  he  will  burn  up  the  chaff  with  unquench- 
able fire," — and  hell  also  is  his, — his  breath  it  is  that 
shall  kindle  it — the  living  God  ! 

It  were  endless,  however,  to  pursue  this  inviting  field 


Christ's  own  account  of  nrs  blood-shedding.        89 

— to  notice  how,  in  one  chapter,  Jesus  claims  for  himself 
that  supreme  love  of  our  hearts  which  is  due  to  God  alone, 
saying,  *'  He  that  loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  Me, 
is  not  wortliy  of  me ; "  how,  in  the  chapter  following, 
he  invites  a  whole  world  to  come  to  him  for  what  the 
Almighty  God  alone  can  give  to  a  single  soul,  saying, 
*'  Come  imto  me,  all  yo  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest;"  how  (to  take  but  another 
instance),  in  the  chapter  before  that  in  which  the  text 
lies,  he  in  effect  proclaims  himself  at  once  God  and  man, 
saying,  *'"Wlien  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory, 
and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  upon 
the  throne  of  his  glory  :  and  before  him  shall  be  gathered 
all  nations ;  and  he  shall  separate  them  one  from  another, 
as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats ;  and  he 
shall  set  the  sheep  on  his  right  hand,  but  tho  goats  on 
the  left.  Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his  right 
hand.  Come  " — you  know  the  rest.  He,  the  Judge  of 
quick  and  dead,  aj)points,  administers,  the  everlasting 
destinies  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  respectively. 
"Then  shall  he  say  also  unto  them  on  the  left  hand, 
Depart  from  me,"  from  ate,  "ye  cursed,  into  everlasting 
tire ;  for  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat." 
Oh,  our  eternity  not  only  is  in  his  hands,  but  turns,  it 
seems,  for  weal  or  for  woe,  on  our  regard  or  our  disregard 
for  Hnr— "  ye  did  it,"  or  "  ye  did  it  not,  to  :me."  This  is 
He  who  in  the  guest  chamber  says,  "  This  is  my  blood 
of  the  new  covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  tho 
remission  of  sins."  And  observe  the  "my,"  "wy  blood" 
—one  only  person, — not  a  God  and  a  man,  but  the  two 
iuiinitely  diverse  natures  inseparably  united  in  one  Christ, 
— one  person,  "I,"  "My" — so  that  tho  things  which 
were  done  and  suffered  b}^  him  in  the  human  nature  wero 
verily  done  and  suffered  by  tlie  adorable  One, — the  God-man 
— as  it  is  elsewhere  written,  "  God  purchased  the  Church 
with  his  own  blood."     "Ye  killed  the  Prince  of  life."     "I 


90       chuist's  own  account  of  his  blood-shedding. 

am  the  first  and  the  last,  and  the  living  One ;  and  I  was 
dead;  and,  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore! "  Eest  assured, 
beloved,  that  a  sight  of  the  Person  of  the  Saviour  to  day, 
shall  transform  all  our  thoughts  of  his  Death, — shall  throw 
an  unutterable  glory  over  the  entire  grace  and  saving 
virtue  of  the  blood- shedding  itself,  which  is  now  more 
immediately  to  engage  our  attention. 

II.  Our  second  question  is,  By  whom  was  this  blood 
shed  ?  Now*,  there  was  one  party  that  had  a  large  and 
dreadful  share  in  the  shedding  of  it,  of  whom  Jesus  makes 
no  mention  here.  He  passes  by  Caiaphas  and  Pilate, — 
the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees, — the  Jewish  people,  and 
the  Gentile  governor  and  soldiers.  And  with  reference 
to  them,  I  will  but  ask  you  to  note  in  passing  this  eternal 
wonder,  that  the  same  "  crucifying  of  the  Lord  of  glory," 
which,  on  man's  part,  was  the  crowning  act  of  human 
wickedness,  was,  on  the  j)Civt  of  God,  mysteriously,  and 
from  everlasting  had  been  predestined  to  be,  the  purchase 
of  man's  redemption,  and  the  crowning  exercise  and  mani- 
festation of  the  Divine  love,  and  aU  other  perfections— "0 
the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge 
of  God !  how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his 
ways  past  finding  out !  "  "  The  stone  which  the  builders 
refused  is  become  the  headstone  of  the  corner.  This 
is  the  Lord's  doing;  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes!" 
Leaving,  however,  the  Jews,  and  the  other  more  immediate 
authors  of  this  blood-shedding,  I  mark  three  distinct 
parties,  who,  doubtless,  were  all  in  the  eye  of  our  Lord 
when  he  said,  "  This  is  my  blood  of  the  new  covenant, 
which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins." 

1.  And  first.  Himself — to  speak  with  deepest  reverence. 
Jesus  shed  his  own  blood, — was  the  Ofi'erer,  as  well  as  the 
sacrifice,  the  offering, — most  freely  and  voluntarily  laid 
down  his  life,  even  as  we  found  him  a  little  ago  say- 
ing, *'  The  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but 


Christ's  owx  account  of  his  blood-shedding.        91 

to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many." 
The  disciples  were  his  guests  at  this  supper ;  and  I  sup- 
pose he  had  poured  out  the  wine  into  the  cup  for  their 
use.  When  he  now  says,  **  This  is  my  blood  shed" 
for  you,  it  is  as  if  he  had  said — the  blood  which  I  no  less 
freely  and  voluntarily  pour  forth  for  remission  of  your  sins. 
Tlie  Father,  five  hundred  years  before,  had  said  of  him, 
"I  will  divide  him  a  portion  with  the  great,  and  he  shall 
divide  the  spoil  with  the  strong,  because  ho  hath  poured 
out  his  soul  unto  death."  At  length  his  voice  was  heard 
on  the  earth,  saying,  *'I  am  the  good  shepherd;  the 
good  shepherd  giveth  his  life  for  the  sheep  ...  No 
man  taketh  my  life  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself. 
I  have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it 
again."  Thus  it  was  that,  until  ''his  hour  was  come" 
(as  the  Scripture  expression  so  often  is),  all  the  malice 
and  schemes  of  his  enemies  were  in  vain  to  accomplish  his 
death.  But  when  this  his  last  passover  was  drawing  near, 
you  recollect  how  he  said  to  the  disciples,  when  in  a  place 
of  comparative  retirement,  "Let  us  go  into  Judea  again." 
And  when  they  ventured  to  remonstrate  with  him,  saying, 
*' Master,  the  Jews  of  late  sought  to  stone  thee ;  and  goest 
thou  thither  again?"  he  refused  to  be  dissuaded.  And 
then,  more  immediately,  after  the  agony  in  the  garden, 
you  remember  how  John  tells  us  that,  when  the  band  of 
men  and  officers  from  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees,  under 
the  leading  of  the  traitor,  ''came  thither  with  lanterns  and 
torches  and  weapons,"  as  in  search  of  some  reluctant 
criminal,  Jesus,  * '  knowing  all  things  that  should  come 
upon  him,  went  forth,  and  said  unto  them,  Whom  seek 
ye?  They  answered  him,  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Jesus  saitli 
unto  them,  I  am  he  !  " — 

**  The  Saviour,  what  a  noble  llame 
Was  kindled  in  his  breast, 
When,  hasting  to  Jerusalem, 
He  iiiarchei  before  the  rest ! 


92       cheist's  own  account  of  his  blood -shedding. 

Goodwill  to  men,  and  zeal  for  God, 

His  every  thought  engross  ; 
He  longs  to  be  baptized  with  blood, 

He  pants  to  reach  the  cross." 

First,  I  say,  Jesus  shied  liis  own  blood, — was  tlie  High 
priest,  as  well  as  tlie  victim,  the  lamb,  the  sacrifice, — freely 
and  voluntarily  laid  down  his  life  for  his  sheep. 

2.  Then  observe  a  second,  and  in  some  respects  the 
principal,  party  in  this  mysterious  blood-shedding — even 
the  Father, — the  holy,  righteous,  loving,  Father, — as  it  is 
written,  ' '  Grod  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him 
up  for  us  all."  You  remember  that,  after  those  words, 
"  No  man  taketh  my  life  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of 
myself ;  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to 
take  it  again,"  Jesus  added,  *'  This  commandment  have  I 
received  of  my  Father."  For,  although  he  was  one  with  the 
Father  essentially  and  eternally, — true  and  very  God, — yet, 
in  the  whole  work  of  our  redemption,  the  Father  sustained 
the  place,  the  rights,  the  majesty,  of  the  Godhead;  while 
the  Son  condescended  to  be  the  servant  of  the  Father, 
as  it  is  written  in  the  great  words,  *'  Who,  being  in  the 
form  of  God,  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God; 
but  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the 
form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men ; 
and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  him- 
self, and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of 
the  cross."  Hence  those  words  we  sang  at  the  opening  of 
our  service,  ''My  strength  is  dried  up  like  a  potsherd,  and 
my  tongue  cleaveth  to  my  jaws;  and  thou  hast  Irought  me 
into  the  dust  of  death."  "About  the  ninth  hour  Jesus 
cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  "It  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  him ; 
he  hath  put  him  to  grief."  "  It  became  him,  for  whom 
are  all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing 
many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the  Captain  of  their 
salvation  perfect  through  sufferings."    0  yes,  brethren,  if 


93 

Jesus  was  ever  to  Lear  for  us  the  penalty,  the  curse,  of  tlio 
Diviiio  law,  it  behoved  tlie  supremo  Lawgiver  and  Judge 
himself,  as  such,  to  inllict  it, — to  give  commission  to  the 
sword  to  awake  and  descend  on  this  all-unlikely  One — 
"The  cup,"  said  lie,  "which  my  EatJier  hath  given  me,  shall 
I  not  drink  it?"  "Awake,  0  sword,  against  my  Shep- 
herd, and  against  the  man  that  is  my  fellow,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts;  smite  the  Shepherd."  How  solemn,  and  yet  how 
blessed,  to  behold  the  Father  and  the  Son, — God  and  his 
Christ, — together  acting  in  a  perfect  harmony  of  love,  about 
that  blood-shedding  which  we  are  to  celebrate  to  day ! 

3.  Ay,  wc^  believers  in  Jesus.  For  now  there  meets  us 
a  third,  and  in  some  respects  the  chief,  joarty  in  the 
shedding  of  this  blood — I  mean  ourselves, — all  the  sinners 
who  shall  be  saved  by  this  death  to  the  end,  as  it  is 
written,  "They  shall  look  upon  me  whom  they  have  pierced, 
and  they  shall  mourn  for  him."  0  Lamb  of  God,  which 
takest  away  the  sin  of  the  world,  /  shed  thy  blood, — I 
pierced  thee, — nailed  thee  to  the  accursed  tree  !  Caiaphas 
and  Pilate, — the  chief  priests,  the  soldiers, — were  but  the 
voluntary  instruments.  My  sins  were  the  guilty,  pro- 
curing, cause,  but  for  which,  never  could  they  have 
imbrued  their  hands  in  thy  blood,  nor  hadst  thou  ever 
had  to  say,  "I  lay  down  my  life  for  my  sheej) ;  "  nor  the 
righteous,  loving,  Father  to  commission  the  sword  to 
awake  against  thee.  My  ungodliness,  imrighteousness, 
pride,  covetousness,  licentiousness — iniquities  numberless 
as  the  sand  by  the  seashore — shed  thy  most  precious 
blood!  Well,  well,  may  I  "  mourn  for  thee" — and  j'et 
rejoice  also,  exult,  amid  the  sorrow.     For  now — 

III.  Thirdl}',  our  last  (question  comes  into  view,  To 
what  end  and  issue  was  this  blood-shedding?  We  have 
seen  whose  blood  it  was,  and  by  whom  shed.  Now, 
thirdly,  to  what  end  and  issue?  "This  is  my  blood  of 
the  new  covenant,"  says  Jesus,  "which  is  shed  for  man}' 


94       cheist's  own  account  of  his  blood-shedding. 

for  the  remission  of  sins."  For  the  remission  of  sins  ? 
Then  let  the  believer  in  Jesus  break  forth  at  once,  "Bless 
the  Lord,  0  my  soul;  and  all  that  is  within  me,  bless  his  holy 
name.  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his 
benefits.  Who  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities ;  who  healeth 
all  thy  diseases;  who  redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruc- 
tion; who  crowneth  thee  with  loving-kindness  and  tender 
mercies ;  who  satisfieth  thy  mouth  with  good  things  ;  thy 
youth  is  renewed  like  the  eagle's."  But  we  must  look 
at  this,  of  course,  a  little  more  particularly — "My  blood  of 
the  new  covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins."  Let  me  mention  here  a  circumstance  in  the 
last  days  of  the  distinguished  Lord  Chancellor  Lynd- 
hurst,^'*  who,  at  an  extreme  age,  but  in  full  possession 
of  all  his  rare  mental  powers,  was  brought  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Saviour.  He  said,  "  I  never  used  to  be 
able  to  understand  what  these  good  people  meant 
when  they  spoke  so  much  of  the  Mood,  the  hlood.  But 
I  understand  it  now  ;  it's  just  Substitution ! "  Ay, 
that  is  it,  in  one  word.  Substitution — "my  blood  shed 
for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins," — Christ's  blood 
instead  of  ours, — Christ's  death  for  our  eternal  death, 
— Christ  "made  a  curse,  that  we  might  be  redeemed 
from  the  curse  of  the  law."  Once  in  conversation,  my 
beloved  friend  Dr  Duncan  expressed  it  thus  in  his  terse 
way,  "  A  religion  of  blood  is  God's  appointed  religion  for 
a  sinner,  for  the  wages  of  sin  is  death." 

The  Unitarians  tell  us — and  it  were  easy  to  shew  how 
the  various  Broad  Church  theories  run  up  into  the  very 
same — that  the  meaning  of  our  text  simply  is,  that  Jesus 
designed,  by  the  example, — by  the  happy  moral  influence, 
— of  his  martyr-death,  his  blood,  to  make  us  better  i^eoiDle, 
purifying  us  from  our  sinfulw^s.  What  !  example, 
— happy  moral  influence, — the  meaning  of  these  words, 

*  I  had  it  from  the  late  excellent  Earl  of  Roden,  who  knew  inti- 
mately the  Chancellor  and  his  family. 


cnmsT's  OWN  accouxt  of  nis  blood-siieddixo.        05 

''My  hlood  shod  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins^^  ? 
words  recalling'  at  onco  the  great  words  in  Tvliicli  Paul 
writes  the  motto  of  all  the  sacrificial  victims  of  the  law, 
"  AVithout  the  shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission."  Was 
that  happy  moral  influence,  example  ?  Nay,  nay ;  but,  as 
the  law  said,  '*  It  is  the  blood  which  maketh  atonement 
for  the  soul."  Example,  moral  influence  ?  Why,  then 
all  the  good  and  holy  men  whose  lives  have  come 
down  to  us  are  our  Saviours  by  their  example,  as  well  as 
Jesus.  Then,  too,  assuredly  it  ought  to  have  been  the 
example  of  his  life,  rather  than,  specifically  and  em- 
phatically, his  deathj  his  hlood — and  much  the  more, 
inasmuch  as  the  example  of  this  death  becomes  one  of 
very  questionable  character  indeed,  so  soon  as  you  have 
removed  the  element  of  substitution — of  Christ's  bear- 
ing our  curse,  and  so,  under  the  liidings  of  his  Father's 
countenance,  enduring  a  ''travail  of  soul," — an  inward 
sorrow, — altogether  unique  and  unparalleled.  For  now 
the  question  at  once  arises — whence  all  the  shrinking  from 
the  death?  Was  it  so  very  terrible  a  thing  to  endure 
crucifixion  for  the  truth  ?  Whence  that  recoil,  "Now 
is  my  soul  troubled;  and  what  shall  I  say?  Father, 
save  me  from  this  hour?"  Whence  the  prayer  in  the 
garden,  thrice  repeated,  "If  it  be  joossible,  let  this  cup 
pass  from  me"?  Whence  that  cry  of  weakness  on  the 
cross,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?" 
— with  reference  to  a  death  very  much  loss  dread- 
ful than  thousands  of  martyrs  have  endured  even  with 
joy  and  triumph?  But  enough.  The  text  speaks  with 
a  quite  unmistakable  voice — as  do  many  other  sucli 
words  of  Scripture  as  these  : — "  Christ  was  once  ofl"ered 
to  boar  the  sins  of  many."  "Who  his  ownself  bear  our 
sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree."  "  He  hath  made 
him  who  knew  no  sin  to  be  sin  for  us."  "Christ  hatli 
redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a 
curse  for  us."     "To  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us 


96       cnmsT's  ow^r  account  of  his  blood-sheddixg. 

from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood." — "This  is  my  blood  of 
the  new  covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission 
of  sins." 

Let  it  be  observed  that  our  Lord  singles  out,  from  all  the 
benefits  of  his  redemption,  the  remission  of  sins,  not  only 
because  it  is  that  which  stands  most  immediately  related 
to  his  blood-shedding — the  penalty  of  the  law  borne  by 
the  Surety,  and  thus  removed  from  the  sinner — but 
because  it  is  the  fundamental  benefit  of  all,  carrying  the 
others  along  with  it  by  necessarj^  consequence,  as  you  may 
see  in  that  great  summary  of  the  promises  of  the  covenant 
(Jer.  xxxi.  33-34),  "I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward 
parts,  and  write  it  in  their  hearts ;  and  will  be  their  God, 
and  they  shall  be  my  people ;  and  they  shall  all  know  me 
from  the  least  to  the  greatest,  saith  the  Lord ;  for— /or — 
I  will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  I  will  remember  their 
sin  no  more."  0  most  blessed  remission  of  sins!  The 
men  of  this  world  conceive  of  nothing  in  the  least 
resembling  it.  What  they  dream  of — alas!  it  is  but  a 
dream — is  simply  God's  not  dealing  very  strictly  with  them 
about  their  sins, — j)^ss^^&  them,  without  much  difficult}', 
b}'  —  or,  in  plainer  language,  winking,  conniving,  at 
them.  But  this  is  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  saying  from 
his  throne,  ''Deliver  from  going  down  to  the  pit;  I  have 
found  a  ransom  ^ — "  Son,  daughter,  thy  sins  are  forgiven 
thee ! "  This  is  a  forgiveness  as  righteous  as  it  is  absolutely 
gracious — full  also,  irrevocable,  eternal,  as  it  is  written, 
''  As  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  so  far  hath  he  re- 
moved our  transgressions  from  us."  *' Thou  wilt  cast  all 
their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea."  ''  I  will  be  merciful 
to  their  unrighteousness,  and  their  sins  and  their  iniquities 
will  I  remember  no  more." — "This  is  my  blood  of  the  new 
covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins." 
You  will  recollect  that  our  third  question  was,  to  what 
QTidiand  issue  was  this  blood-shedding, — to  what  effect  and 
result,  as  well  as  end  and  design?      For  both  are  in  the 


I 


97 

words  of  Jesus,  ''Tliis  is  my  blood  of  tlio  now  covenant, 
which  is  shed  for  many  for,"  or  unto,  ''the  remission  of 
sins."  In  other  words,  this  is  no  precarious,  contingent, 
forgiveness,  but  one  infallibl}^,  sooner  or  later,  made 
good.  And  to  tliis  belong  the  two  other  expressions — 
into  which,  however,  I  do  not  enter — "my  blood  of  the 
new  covenant,''''  ''  which  is  shed  for  mamj.''^  Doubtless  the 
reference  is  to  the  "many," — the  countless  seed, — that 
were  given  to  Christ  in  the  everlasting  covenant,  as  it  is 
written,  ''When  thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin, 
he  shall  see  his  seed."  *'  By  the  knowledge  of  him  shall 
my  righteous  servant  justify  many;  for  he  shall  bear  their 
iniquities."  True — and  how  unspeakably  precious  a  truth ! 
— the  pardon  is  freely  offered  to  all  without  exception. 
But  it  becomes,  in  due  time,  the  actual  possession  of  each 
soul  of  the  "  many  " — as  will  gloriously  appear  in  the  day 
of  that  word  of  the  Apocalypse,  "  I  beheld,  and,  lo,  a  great 
multitude,  which  no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations,  and 
kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the  throne, 
and  before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes,  and  palms 
in  their  hands;  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  Salva- 
tion to  our  God  which  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto 
the  Lamb.  .  .  .  These  are  they  which  came  out  of  great 
tribulation,  and  have  washed  their  robes,  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  Therefore  are 
they  before  the  throne  of  God,  and  serve  him  day  and 
night  in  his  temple :  and  he  that  sitteth  on  the  throne 
shall  dwell  among  them.  They  shall  hunger  no  more, 
neither  thirst  any  more  ;  neither  shall  the  sun  light  on 
them,  nor  any  heat.  For  the  Lamb,  which  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  throne,  shall  feed  them,  and  shall  lead  them 
unto  living  fountains  of  waters;  and  God  shall  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  their  eyes." 

A  closing  word  to  those  still  out  of  Christ  among  us, 
— who  still  prefer  the  world  and  their  sins  to  his  holy 
salvation.     Be  assured,  dear  hearers,  that  had  there  been 


98        Christ's  own  account  of  his  blood-shedding. 

any  possible  way  of  saving  the  lost,  other  than  this  blood, 
it  had  never  been  shed.  And  be  further  assured,  that  the 
shedding  of  it  can  avail  you  nothing,  unless  it  be  accepted 
by  you, — believed  in  by  you, — sprinkled  on  your  individual 
souls  by  a  true  and  living  faith.  Without  that,  better  for 
you  it  had  never  been  shed,  or  you  had  never  been  born. 
Oh,  this  blood  must  either  be  your  salvation,  or  your 
unspeakably  aggravated  ruin.  Deceive  not  yourselves  with 
imagining  that  you  can  simply  stand  aloof  from  it, — avoid 
all  dealing  with  it.  It  lies  in  your  path.  It  meets  you  to 
day,  and  must  be  dealt  with  by  you  somehow.  To  neglect 
it,  is  to  reject  it ;  to  prefer  anything  in  the  world  before  it, 
is  to  trample  it  under  foot,  and  crucify  the  Son  of  God 
afresh.  * '  He  that  desj^ised  Moses'  law  died  without  mercy 
under  two  or  three  witnesses  :  of  how  much  sorer  punish- 
ment, suppose  ye,  shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who  hath 
trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the 
blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was  sanctified,  an 
unholy  thing,  and  hath  done  despite  unto  the  Sj^irit  of 
grace?"  "  How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great 
salvation  ?  "  But,  blessed  be  God,  if  the  living  faith  of  this 
blood  alone  can  save  you,  there  is  nothing  except  the 

REFUSAL  OF   IT   BY  UNBELIEF   THAT   CAN  HINDER  YOUR  BEING 

SAVED.  "  Be  it  known  unto  you,  men  and  brethren,  that 
through  this  man  is  preached  unto  you  the  forgiveness  of 
sins ;  and  by  him,  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all 
things,  from  which  ye  could  not  be  justified  by  the  law 
of  Moses."  *'  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved."  ''  Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and 
ye  perish  from  the  way,  when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a 
little.     Blessed  are  all  they  that  put  their  trust  in  him  !" 

2.  Pulpit  Address  before  Communion. 

We  have  been  hearing  the  Saviour's  own  account  of 
his  blood-shedding.     Dear  brethren,  what  is  the  account 


PULPIT  ADDRESS  BEFOUE  COMMTJKION.  £9 

yo^i  have  to  give  of  it — I  do  not  mean  in  'words,  or  in  your 
creed,  but  practically,  and  in  your  inmost  soid?  Jesus 
has  been  saying  to  us,  ''This  is  my  blood  of  the  new 
covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of 
sins."  Oh,  aro  you  ready  to  respond,  with  the  whole 
ransomed  Church,  **  He  was  wounded  for  our  trans- 
gressions, he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities?"  Alas! 
"He  is  despised  and  rejected  of  men;  a  man  of  sorrows, 
and  acquainted  with  grief:  and  we  hid" — ive  also  once — 
''hid  as  it  were  our  faces  from  him  :  he  was  despised,  and 
we  esteemed  him  not."  But  we  have  changed  our  minds 
for  ever!  "Ho  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he 
was  bruised  for  our  iniquities :  the  chastisement  of  our 
peace  was  upon  him ;  and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed." 
I  pray  you  to  observe  that  that  account  of  the  Saviour's 
blood-shedding,  in  the  fifty-third  of  Isaiah,  is  no  state- 
ment of  doctrine  simply.  It  is  a  life, — it  is  an  inward 
experience, — it  is  the  contrite,  believing,  utterance  of 
renewed  hearts.  It  is  like  that  word  elsewhere,  "  I  have 
surely  heard  Ephraim  bemoaning  himself;"  and  that 
other  word,  "  The  publican,  standing  afar  off,  would  not 
lift  up  so  much  as  his  eyes  to  heaven,  but  smote  upon  his 
breast,  saying,  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  In  like 
manner  exclaims  the  ransomed  Church  here — is  her  expe- 
rience yours,  beloved?  "  All  we,  like  sheep,  have  gone 
astray  ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way ;  and 
the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all." 

You  recollect  how  Paul  writes  to  the  Hebrew  Christians, 
"  Ye  are  come  unto  mount  Zion  ;  and  unto  the  city  of  the 
living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem  ;  and  to  an  innumer- 
able company  of  angels;  to  the  general  assembly  and 
church  of  the  first-born,  which  are  written  in  heaven ;  and 
to  God  the  Judge  of  all;  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect;  and  to  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  new 
covenant ;  and  to  the  hlood  of  sprinkling^  that  speaketh  better 
things  than  that  of  Abel."    "The  blood  of  sprinkling" — 


100  PULPIT  ADDRESS  BEFORE  COMMUNION. 

put  last,  you  observe,  not  because  least,  but  because  lying 
at  the  foundation  of  all  the  other  benefits  together. 
"Ye  are  come,"  wrote  the  apostle  to  those  Christians, 
**  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling."  Are  ye  come  to  it,  my  dear 
hearers?  It  has  come  many  a  time  to  you  in  the  offers 
of  the  Gospel;  have  you  come  to  it  by  the  living  accept- 
ance of  them  ? — come  to  ''  the  blood  of  sprinUing  "  ?  Is 
it  verily  sprinkled  upon  your  souls  by  a  living  faith? 
Eemember  how  Grod  said  by  Moses  in  Egypt,  "Ye  shall 
take  a  bunch  of  hyssoj),  and  dip  it  in  the  blood  that  is  in 
the  bason,  and  strike  the  lintel  and  the  two  side  posts 
with  the  blood  that  is  in  the  bason ;  for  the  Lord  will 
pass  through  to  smite  the  Egyptians ;  and  luhen  he  seeth 
the  Hood  upon  the  lintel,  and  on  the  two  side  posts,  the 
Lord  will  pass  over  the  door,  and  will  not  suffer  the 
destroyer  to  come  in  unto  your  houses  to  smite  you." 
Know  you,  in  very  deed,  what  that  means  ?  Is  the 
blood  of  God's  Lamb  upon  your  soul  ?  Does  God  "  see  " 
it  there?  If  so,  then  be  assured  that  Jesus  lovingly 
bids  you  welcome  to  celebrate  his  wondrous  blood-shed- 
ding at  his  table  to  day.  But  if  otherwise,  and  you 
shall  nevertheless  take  your  place  there,  I  fear  it  must  be 
with  you  as  the  Lord  spake  in  his  parable  of  old,  '*  When 
the  King  came  in  to  see  the  guests,  he  saw  there  a  man 
which  had  not  on  a  wedding  garment ;  and  he  saith  unto 
him,  Eriend,  how  camest  thou  in  hither,  not  having  a 
wedding  garment?  and  he  was  speechless."  On  the  other 
hand,  however,  **We  have  not  an  high  priest  which 
cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities." 
"  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth 
them  that  fear  him ;  for  he  knoweth  our  frame,  he 
remembereth  that  we  are  dust."  **Who  is  among  you 
that  feareth  the  Lord,  that  obeyeth  the  voice  of  his  ser- 
vant, that  walketh  in  darkness,  and  hath  no  light  ?  let 
him  trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  stay  upon  his 
God."     ''  0  my  dove,  that  art  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  in 


COMMUXIOX  TAULE  ADDRESS.  101 

the  secret  places  of  the  stairs,  let  me  see  tliy  countenance ; 
let  me  hear  thy  voice ;  for  sweet  is  thy  voice,  and  thy 
countenance  is  comely  ! "     Amen. 


3.    Communion  Table  Address. 

BEFORE  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  ELEMENTS. 

It  is  the  Saviour's  voice,  communicants,  as  truly  to  clay, 
— at  this  table, — as  ever  it  was  at  the  first  communion 
table  that  night  in  the  upper  chamber  at  Jerusalem — 
*'  This  is  my  blood  of  the  new  covenant,  which  is  shed  for 
many  for  the  remission  of  sins."  Shall  we  not  respond 
to  the  voice  in  contrition,  h\  faith,  in  love  ? 

In  contrition  shall  we  not  respond  to  it,  "  looking 
upon  him  whom  we  pierced,  and  mourning  for  him?" 
0  Lord  Jesus,  but  for  my  terrible  sins,  thine  enemies  had 
never  crucified  thee  between  the  thieves.  Never,  but  for  my 
sins,  hadst  thou  had  to  "pour  out  thy  soul  unto  death ;  " 
nor  thy  Father  to  say,  **  Awake,  0  sword,  against  my 
Shepherd,  and  against  the  man  that  is  my  fellow ;  smite 
the  Shepherd."  How  does  thy  death  tell  of  my  desert  of 
everlasting  death!  How  does  thy  blood  shed  for  remission 
of  sins  tell  that  I  was  ready  to  go  down  to  the  pit,  when 
thou  saidst,  "  Deliver  ;  for  I  have  found  a  ransom ! "  Oh 
for  a  broken  spirit  to  day, — the  spirit  of  her  who  of 
old  stood  at  thy  feet  behind  thee  wGci^ing,  and  washed 
thy  feet  with  her  tears,  and  wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of 
lier  head ! 

But  again  I  hear  thy  voice,  *'  This  is  my  blood  of  the 
new  covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of 
sins."  Shall  I  not  respond  to  it  in  faith, — lively,  appro- 
priating, faith, — exclaiming  with  the  ransomed  Church, 
' '  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised 
for  oui'  iniquities  "  ? — 


102  COMMUNION  TABLE  ADDRESS. 

I  lay  my  sins  on  Jesus, 

The  spotless  Lamb  of  God  ; 
He  bears  them  all,  and  frees  us 

From  th'  accursed  load. 

I  bring  my  guilt  to  Jesus, 

To  wash  my  crimson  stains 
White  in  his  blood  most  precious, 

Till  not  a  spot  remains. 

True,  thy  death,  tells  of  my  desert  of  everlasting  death. 
But,  yet  more  expressly,  it  tells  of  my  death  swallowed  up 
in  thine, — of  my  curse  endured  and  exhausted  in  thine. 
True,  there  is  nothing  but  thy  blood  between  me,  at 
this  hour,  and  hell.  But  is  it  not  enough?  0  Jesus,  I 
take  Tliee  this  day,  at  the  Father's  hand,  instead  of  hell, 
— Christ  free,  instead  of  hell  deserved.  I  will  say  with 
Luther,  ''Lord  Jesus,  I  am  thy  sin,  thy  curse,  thy  death, 
thy  wrath  of  God,  thy  hell ;  and  contrariwise,  Thou  art 
my  righteousness,  my  life,  my  blessing,  my  grace  of  God, 
and  my  heaven."  I  believe,  Lord,  help  thou  mine  unbe- 
lief !  I  am  crucified  with  Christ :  nevertheless  I  live ;  yet 
not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me,  and  the  life  which  I  now 
live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God, 
who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for  me. 

But  yet  again  I  hear  thy  voice,  *  *  This  is  my  blood  of 
the  new  covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins."  Shall  I  not  respond  to  it  in  love,  in 
ardent  affection,  exclaiming,  "It  is  the  voice  of  my 
beloved" — echoing  that  word  of  an  early  martyr,  *'My 
love  was  crucified?"  Oh,  didst  thou  so  love  me  while 
I  was  at  enmity  with  thee, — so  love  me  as  to  die  that 
death  for  me,  when  I  was  all  unlovely — foolish,  dis- 
obedient, deceived,  serving  divers  lusts  and  pleasures, 
living  in  malice  and  envy,  hateful  and  hating?  Then, 
Lord,  ' '  Set  me  as  a  seal  upon  thine  heart,  as  a  seal 
upon  thine  arm ;  for  love  is  strong  as  death,  jealousy 
is  cruel  as  the  grave ;  many  waters  cannot  q^uench  love, 


COMMUNIOX  TABLE  ADDRESS.  1  ')3 

neither  can  the  floods  drown  it."  **  Tell  me,  0  tliou 
whom  my  soul  lovctli,  where  thou  feedest,  where  thou 
makest  thy  flock  to  rest  at  noon."  **  My  beloved  is 
white  and  rudd}^,  the  chiefest  among  ten  thousand." 
"  Behold,  a  woman  in  the  city,  wdiich  was  a  sinner, 
when  she  knew  that  Jesus  sat  at  meat  in  the  Phari- 
see's house,  brought  an  alabaster  box  of  ointment,  and 
stood  at  his  feet  behind  him  weeping,  and  began  to  wash 
his  feet  with  tears,  and  did  wipe  them  with  the  hairs 
of  her  head,  and  kissed  his  feet,  and  anointed  them  with 
the  ointment."  Contrition,  faith,  love — the  very  soul  of 
our  communion  this  day  ! 

One  other  word,  before  putting  the  elements  into  j'our 
hands.  "  My  blood  of  the  new  covenant,"  says  Jesus — of 
the  new  covenant.  It  is  well  worthy  to  be  noticed  that 
this  exjDression  is  found  nowhere  in  the  Old  Testament, 
save  in  those  great  words  of  Jeremiah,  ''Behold,  the  days 
come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  make  a  neio  covenant 
with  the  house  of  Israel  and  with  the  house  of  Judah. 
....  This  shall  be  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with 
the  house  of  Israel  after  those  days,  saith  the  Lord; 
I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts,  and  write 
it  in  their  hearts ;  and  wiU  be  their  God,  and  they  shall 
be  my  people  ;  and  they  shall  all  know  me,  from  the  least 
to  the  greatest ;  for  I  will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  wiU 
remember  their  sin  no  more."  Thus  it  has  long  seemed 
to  me  that  our  Lord  very  probably  had  this  passage  in  his 
eye, — this  most  precious  summary  of  the  promises  of  the 
covenant, — when,  taking  the  cup  into  his  hands,  he  gave 
it  to  the  disciples,  saying,  "  This  is  my  blood  of  the  new 
covenant" — "This  is  the  new  covenant  in  my  blood," — the 
seal  and  pledge  of  it,  that  is  to  say,  with  all  its  exceeding 
great  and  precious  promises.  What  an  encouragement  to 
us,  when  Jesus  shall  put  the  cup  into  our  hands,  believers, 
uttering  the  same  words,  to  plead  those  promises, — to 
mingle  prayers  and  supplications  with  our  thanksgivings 


104  COMMUNION  TABLE  ADDRESS. 

and  praises, — to  beseecli  him  that  he  will  make  good  to  us, 
according  to  onr  various  circumstances  and  necessities,  the 
promises  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  ordered  in  all  things 
and  sure!  "  The  Lord  Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  he 
was  betrayed  took  bread  ;  and  when  he  had  given  thanks, 
he  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  the  disciples,  saying,  Take, 
eat ;  this  is  my  body  which  is  broken  for  you :  this  do  in 
remembrance  of  me.  After  the  same  manner  also,  he  took 
the  cup  when  he  had  supped,  sajdng,  This  is  "my  blood  of 
the  new  covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins.     Drink  ye  all  of  it." 


AETER  THE  PARTAKING  OF  THE  ELEMENTS. 

Two  words  of  Scripture  let  me  leave  with  you  before 
you  rise  from  the  table.  The  first  is  that  one,  "  Know 
ye  what  I  have  done  unto  you  ?  Ye  call  me  Master  and 
Lord :  and  ye  say  well ;  for  so  I  am.  If  I  then,  your 
Lord  and  Master,  have  washed  your  feet ;  ye  also  ought 
to  wash  one  another's  feet.  For  I  have  given  you  an 
example,  that  ye  should  do  as  I  have  done  to  you."  Ilime 
given  you  an  example.  0  yes,  do  not  suppose  that  I  intended 
to  depreciate  the  example  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  when 
I  said  in  the  Discourse  that  it  breaks  utterly  down  if 
the  foundation  be  once  taken  from  beneath  it,  of  the 
atonement,  the  substitution.  Of  that,  indeed,  I  entertain 
no  doubt  whatever.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  let  the 
exa.mple  rise  from  this  grand  foundation,  and  then, 
what  an  example,  and  how  precious  and  blessed,  is  it ! 
''Let  this  mind  be  in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ 
Jesus."  *'  He  that  saith  he  abideth  in  him,  ought  him- 
self also  to  walk  even  as  he  walked."  *' Christ  suffered 
for  us,  leaving  tis  an  example,  that  ye  should  follow  his 
steps ;  who  did  no  sin,  neither  was  guile  found  in  his 
mouth ;  who,  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled  not  again ; 


COMMUNION  TABLE  ADDKESS.  105 

M-hcn  he  siifTcrcd,  ho  threatened  not,  but  committed 
liimself  to  him  that  judgoth  ri^i'hteouslj."  **  If  I  have 
washed  your  feet,  ye  also  ought  to  wash  one  anotlier's 
feet ;  for  I  have  given  you  an  exami>le,  that  ye  should 
do  as  I  have  done  to  you." 

I  long  to  be  like  Jesus, 

Meek,  loving,  lowly,  mild  ; 
I  long  to  be  like  Jesns, 

The  Father's  holy  child  ! 

The  other  word  of  Scripture  I  leave  with  you  is  that 
one  in  the  Psalms,  ''  The  Lord  taketh  pleasure  in  them 
that  fear  him,  in  those  that  hope  in  his  mercy;"  or, 
as  we  have  it  in  another  psalm,  "  Behold,  the  eye  of  the 
Lord  is  upon  them  that  fear  him,  upon  them  that  hope  in 
liis  mercy."  Two  grand  features  of  character,  observe, — 
"fearing  the  Lord,"  ''hoping  in  his  mercy  " — standing 
related  to  each  other  as  a  sort  of  counterparts,  and  thus 
invested  with  the  higher  both  strength  and  beauty — much 
as  it  is  with  the  two  sides  of  an  arch,  by  mutual  antagonist 
pressure — godly  fear,  aiid  lively  hope, — reverential  awe, 
and  childlike  "  looking  for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  unto  eternal  life." 

And  see  how  each  feature  stands  related,  very  intimately, 
to  the  blood  shed  for  remission  of  sins.  The  godly  fear — 
**  Pass  the  time  of  your  sojourning  here  in  fear  ;  foras- 
much as  ye  know  that  ye  were  not  redeemed  with 
corruptible  things  as  silver  and  gold,  but  with  the  pre- 
cious blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and 
without  spot."  "  There  is  forgiveness  with  thee,  that 
thou  mayest  be  feared."  ''Turn  away  mine  eyes  from 
beholding  vanity,  and  quicken  me  in  thy  way!"  And 
still  more  manifestly,  if  possible,  does  the  lively  hope  of 
mercy  stand  intimately  related  to  the  blood  whence  alone 
flow  all  our  hopes,  rising  to  an  exultant  joy,  as  it  is 
written,  "We  joy  in  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
by  whom  we  have  now  received  the  atonement."     "  Being 


106  COMMUNION  TABLE  ADDRESS.  ' 

justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  by  whom  we  have  access  by  faith  into 
this  grace  wherein  we  stand,  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the 
glory  of  God " — "The  Lord  taketh  pleasure  in. them  that 
fear  him,  in  those  that  hope  in  his  mercy."  Now  the  God 
of  peace,  that  brought  again  from  the  dead  our  Lord 
Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the 
blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in 
every  good  work  to  do  his  will,  working  in  you  that  whicli 
is  wellpleasing  in  his  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ ;  to 
whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever!  Let  us,  after  the 
example  of  the  Lord  and  his  first  disciples,  close  our 
communion  service  by  singing  praise  (Ps.  ciii.  1—4) : — 

0  tliou  my  soul,  bless  God  the  Lord  j 

And  all  that  in  me  is 
Be  stirred  up  his  holy  name 

To  magnify  and  bless.  ] 
Bless,  0  my  soul,  the  Lord  thy  God, 

And  not  forgetful  be 
Of  all  his  gracious  benefits 

He  hath  bestow'd  on  thee. 

All  thine  iniquities  who  doth 

Most  graciously  forgive  s 
-Who  thy  diseases  all  and  pains 

Doth  heal,  and  thee  relieve. 
Who  doth  redeem  thy  life,  that  thou 

To  death  may'st  not  go  down  ; 
Who  thee  with  loving-kindness  doth 

And  tender  mercies  crown. 


107 


4.  Evening  Sermon. 

THE  BRIDEGEOOM's  CALL  TO  THE  BRIDE. 

^*  Hearl-en,  0  davgJiter,  and  consider,  and  incline 
thine  ear ;  forget  also  tldne  own  people,  and  thy 
father's  house;  so  shall  the  King  greatly  desire  thy 
beauty :  for  he  is  thy  Lord,  and  worship  thou  him.'''' — 
Ps.  xlv.  10,  11. 

It  is  certain  tliat  Christ  and  his  Church  are  the 
subject  of  this  noble  psalm.  Long  it  has  seemed  to 
me  beyond  doubt  that  this  is  the  only  subject  of  it — 
that  here,  as  in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  we  have  not 
an  example  of  what  are  called  double  senses, — a  type 
and  an  antitype,  —  Solomon  and  Christ,  —  an  earthly 
marriage  and  an  heavenly  one — but  Christ  and  his 
Bride  alone,  set  forth  only  with  allusion,  more  or 
less,  in  the  language  to  Solomon  and  a  marriage  of 
earth.  That  this  is  Christ  exclusively  is  manifest,  for 
example,  from  the  great  words  of  the  sixth  verse,  which 
are  thus  cited  by  the  apostle  to  the  Hebrews,  **  Unto 
the  Son  he  saitli.  Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for  ever  and 
ever ;  a  sceptre  of  righteousness  is  the  scej^tre  of  thy 
kingdom."  And  thus  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  who  the 
parties  are  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  verses,  "  Hearken, 
0  daughter," — the  ransomed  Church  of  God — "  and 
incline  thine  ear  ;  forget  also  thine  own  people,  and 
thy  father's  house  ;  so  shall  the  King " — Messiah, 
King  of  Zion,  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords 
— *'  greatly  desire  thy  beauty  :  for  ho  is  thy  Lord, 
and  worship   thou   him."      First,   I   will   touch   on   the 


108  CALL  TO  THE  BRIDE. 

exhortation  of  the  tenth  verse,  ''Hearken,  0  daughter^ 
and  consider,  and  incline  thine  ear;  forget  also  thine 
own  people,  and  thy  father's  house."  Then  I  will  notice 
the  enforcement  of  it  by  the  wondrous  promise  of  the 
eleventh  verse,  ''  so  " — complying  with  that  exhorta- 
tion— **  shall  the  king  greatly  desire  thy  beauty."  And, 
finally,  I  will  glance  at  the  further  exhortation,  with  the 
enforcement  of  it,  "  for  he  is  thy  Lord,  and  worship  thou 
him."  The  Lord  vouchsafe  his  own  presence  with  us 
while  we  meditate  together  on  these  things ! 

I.  And,  first,  notice  the  exhortation  of  the  tenth  verse, 
"  Hearken,  0  daughter,  and  consider,  and  incline  thine 
ear  ;  forget  also  thine  own  people,  and  thy  father's 
house."  It  is  the  ransomed  Church,  as  I  have  said,  that 
is  addressed  here.  And  so  it  were  perhaps  not  strictly 
accurate  if  I  should  refer,  for  a  parallel,  to  that  call 
addressed  to  sinners  lost, — dead  in  trespasses  and  sins, 
— "  Incline  your  ear,  and  come  imto  me;  hear,  and  your 
soul  shall  live  " — although,  indeed,  I  should  not  thus  go 
far  aside  from  sound  exposition,  inasmuch  as  the  Church 
was  once  the  world, — once  dead  in  sins, — once  "  foolish, 
disobedient,  deceived,  serving  divers  lusts  and  pleasures, 
living  in  malice  and  envy,  hateful  and  hating."  And 
this  is  certain,  blessed  be  God,  that  tonight  the  Lord  is 
saying  to  every  Christless  one  in  this  assembly — Oh  that 
they  would  but  listen  to  the  voice  ! — ''  Ho,  every  one  that 
thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters.  Wherefore  do  ye  spend 
money  for  that  which  is  not  bread  ?  and  your  labour  for 
that  which  satisfieth  not  ?  Hearken  diligently  unto  me, 
and  eat  ye  that  which  is  good.  Incline  your  ear,  and  come 
unto  me ;  hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live  :  and  I  will  make 
an  everlasting  covenant  with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies 
of  David."  Still,  as  I  have  said,  it  is  the  ransomed, 
regenerated  Church, — gathered  out  of  the  world,  that  is 
addressed  in  the  exhortation,  "Forget  thine  own  people, 


CALL  TO  THE  BRIDE.  109 

and  tliy  father's  house."  And  thus  is  it  rather  a  call  to  a 
higher  holiness, — to  higher  attainments  in  faith,  and  love, 
and  humility,  and  self- consecration, — having  its  parallel 
in  such  words  as,  *'  Come  out  from  among  them — what 
fellowship  hath  righteousness  witli  unrighteousness  ?  and 
what  communion  hath  light  with  darkness?  and  what 
agreement  hath  the  temjile  of  God  with  idols  ?  For  ye 
are  the  temple  of  the  living  God ;  as  God  hath  said,  I  will 
dwell  in  them,  and  walk  in  them;  and  I  will  be  their 
God,  and  they  shall  be  my  peoi)le :  wherefore  come  out 
from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord, 
and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing  ;  and  I  will  receive  you, 
and  will  be  a  Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons 
and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty."  ''  Hearken, 
0  daughter,  and  consider,  and  incline  thine  ear;  forget 
also  thine  own  people,  and  thy  father's  house."  It  is 
deeply  interesting  here  to  mark  the  figure, — the  similitude, 
"thine  own  people — forget  thine  own  people,  and  thy 
father's  house."  It  is  a  figure  ;  and  the  substantial  idea 
is  just  the  world,  and  the  renunciation  of  the  world,  which 
lieth  in  the  wicked  one.  But  it  is  well  worth  while  to 
mark  the  figure,  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  is  that  of  earthly 
marriage,  and  with  specific  allusion  to  that  primeval 
word,  "For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and 
mother,  and  cleave  unto  his  wife ;  and  they  twain  shall  be 
one  fiesh."  The  figure  is  the  interesting  thought  or  fact, 
that  in  marriage,  either  spouse,  for  the  higher  love  of  the 
other,  is  weU  content  to  leave  father,  mother,  brothers, 
sisters — all  the  intimacies  and  endearments  of  a  former 
home.  And  thus,  observe,  there  is  a  point  at  which  the 
figure  and  the  thing  figured  by  it, — the  earthly  marriage 
and  the  heavenly  one,  meet  and  coincide.  See  it  there — 
in  God's  call  to  the  father  of  the  faithful,  "  The  Lord  said 
unto  Abram,  Get  thee  out  of  th}^  country,  and  from  thy 
kindred,  and  from  thy  father's  house,  unto  a  land  that  I 
will  shew  thee."      Or  see  it  in  that  word  which  Moses 


110  CALL  TO  THE  BKIDE. 

wrote  of  Levi, — the  tribe  of  Levi,  "Who  said  unto  his 
father  and  to  his  mother,  I  have  not  seen  him ;  neither 
did  he   acknowledge   his   brethren,  nor  knew  his   own 
children ;   for  they  have   observed  thy  word,  and  kept 
thy  covenant."     Or  see  it  in  the   solemn  words   of  the 
glorious  Husband  himself,    "He   that   loveth   father  or 
mother  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me :  "  "If  any 
man  come  to  me,  and  hate  not  his  father,  and  mother,  and 
wife,  and  children,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his 
own  life  also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."     "Hearken,  0 
daughter,   and  consider,   and  incline  thine    ear;    forget 
also  thine  own  people,  and  thy  father's  house."     Still,  as 
I  said,  the  substance  here, — the  great  general   idea,  is 
the  renunciation  of  the  world, — its  spirit  and  habits  and 
maxims   and  ways — "  forget  thine  own  people,  and  thy 
father's  house."     It  is  as  if  the  Lord  should  say,  "No 
man  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough,   and  looking 
back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God."     Or,  more  sweetly, 
"  Rise  up,  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and  come  away  " — away 
to  a  higher  and  nobler  life — "  for,  lo  !  the  winter  is  past, 
the  rain  is  over  and  gone ;    the  flowers  appear  on  the 
earth  ;  the  time  of  the  singing  of  birds  is  come  ;  and  the 
voice  of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  our  land.     The  fig-tree 
putteth  forth   her  green  figs ;    and  the  vines  with  the 
tender  grape  give  a  good  smell.     Arise,  my  love,  my  fair 
one,   and  come  away."     It  is  as  if  he  should  say,  "  I 
beseech  you,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  your 
bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God,  which 
is  your  reasonable  service ;  and  be  not  conformed  to  this 
world" — "forget   thine   own    people    and   thy   father's 
house."      See  the   exhortation    exemplified   divinely   in 
Paul's  words,   "What  things  were  gain  to  me,  those  I 
counted  loss  for  Christ.     Yea,  doubtless,  and  I  count  all 
things  but  loss,  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  Jesus  my  Lord.     Forgetting  those  things  which 
are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which 


CALL  TO  THE  BRIDE. 


Ill 


are  before,  I  press  tovrard  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  tlio 
high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  *'  Hearken,  0 
daughter,  and  consider,  and  incline  thine  ear ;  forget 
also  thine  own  people,  and  thy  father's  house." 

Beloved  brethren,  endless  are  the  arguments  by  which 
I  might  this  night  j^i'oss  the  exhortation  upon  you.  As, 
for  example,  when  you  took  that  bread  and  that  cup  into 
3'our  hands  to  day,  and  partook  of  them,  what  was  their 
language  to  you  but  ''forget  thine  own  people,  and  thy 
father's  house?"  What  else  was  it  you  engaged  your- 
selves to  this  day,  before  God,  and  angels,  and  men  ? 
Or,  what  but  treachery, — unfaithfulness  to  the  glorious 
Husband,  were  anything  else?  for,  "for  this  cause  shall 
a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  shall  cleave 
unto  his  wife,  and  thej  two  shall  be  one  flesh" — "he 
that  is  joined  to  the  Lord  is  one  spirit."  Or,  for  what 
else  but  this  was  it  that  Jesus  did  not  shrink  from  the 
accursed  death  joii  were  celebrating  to-day — what  but 
that  we  who  now  live  by  that  death  "  should  not  hence- 
forth live  unto  ourselves,  but  unto  him  which  died  for  us, 
and  rose  again?" 

II,  Suffice  it,  however,  to  press  the  exhortation  by  t];e 
one  enforcement  of  it  which  forms  our  second  head,  even 
the  wondrous  promise  of  the  eleventh  verse,  "so  shall 
the  king  —  Hearken,  0  daughter,  and  consider,  and 
incline  thine  ear ;  forget  also  tliine  own  people,  and  tliy 
father's  house ;  so,"  complying  with  that  exhortation, 
"shall  the  king  greatly  desire  thy  beauty."  Amazing 
words  1  Thy  beauty.  Of  course  the  beauty  spoken  of  is 
a  purely  spiritual  one, — the  beauty  of  holiness.  "With 
only  some  distant  allusion  to  outward  beauty,  fairness, 
beauty  of  person,  the  reference  is  to  the  spiritual  loveli- 
ness of  a  soul  on  which  the  king  has  begun  to  stamp  the 
impress  of  his  own  beauty,  even  as  the  "desire"  of  the 
king  towards  it — "  so  shall  the  king  greatly  desire  thy 


112  CALL  TO  THE  BRIDE. 

beauty  " — is  expressed  in  one  word,— a  verb  importing 
the  ardency  of  a  passion;  but  the  idea  is  just  Christ's 
holy  delight,  complacency,  in  his  people's  advancing 
"love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness, 
faith,  meekness,  temperance  "  —  "so  shall  the  king 
greatly  desire  thy  beauty." 

Ah!  but  I  think  I  hear  some  poor  believer  saying 
here.  Then,  I  fear  this  is  not  I,  or  such  as  I.  Alas,  my 
beauty  ?  My  leanness,  my  leanness !  I  can  understand, 
indeed,  that  other  word,  "  the  King  in  his  beauty ;  "  and 
that  one,  "  How  great  is  his  goodness,  and  how  great  is 
his  beauty  !  "  And  I  hope  I  know  somewhat  of  David's 
"  One  thiug  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord,  that  I  may  behold 
the  beauty  of  the  Lord."  But,  my  beauty!  Look  not 
upon  me,  for  I  am  black.  At  the  best  of  me,  the  good 
that  I  would  I  do  not;  and  the  evil  that  I  would  not 
that  I  do.  0  wretched  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me 
from  the  body  of  this  death  ?  Well,  well,  but  do  you  not 
perceive  that  your  very  lamentation  is  in  the  language 
in  which  Paul  the  apostle  describes  himself?  Do  you 
remember  that  word  of  the  Lord  in  one  of  the  prophets, 
"I  have  surely  heard  Ephraim  bemoaning  himself  thus  " 
—  and  it  is  sweetest  music  in  mine  ears — "I  have 
surely  heard  " — literally,  hearing  I  have  heard, — com- 
placency, delight  ?  Can  you  not  conceive  how  a  beauty 
all  imperfect  as  yet,  but  which  Christ  gave  his  life  to 
obtain,  may  appear  in  his  eye  as  if  already  in  all  the 
perfection  it  is  destined  surely  to  reach — much  as  some 
skilful  painter  can,  in  the  first  rough  dashes  of  his  brush, 
or  touches  of  his  pencil,  see  the  finished  picture — as  it 
already,  in  fact,  is  painted  on  the  table  of  his  soul,  his 
fancy  ?  And  do  you  forget  how  the  Lord  Jesus  casts  the 
mantle  of  his  own  perfect  righteousness  over  the  imperfect 
beauty  of  his  people,  so  that  of  that  bride  who  had  just 
said  (as  yon  are  saying),  "Look  not  upon  me,  for  I  am 
black,"    he    soon   after   says,     "  Behold,    thou    art    fair 


CALL  TO  THE  BRIDE.  113 

my  love;  beliold  thou  art  fair;"  yea,  **TIiou  art  all 
fair,  my  love;  there  is  no  spot  in  thee?" — very  much,  I 
have  long  thought,  as  in  the  wondrous  intercessory  prayer 
in  the  seventeenth  of  John,  not  a  word  is  heard  of  the 
things  he  liad  so  often  rebuked  in  the  disciples — their 
little  faith,  their  hardness  of  heart,  their  folly — but  it  is 
as  if  they  were  faultless,  **I  have  manifested  thy  name 
unto  the  men  which  thou  gavest  me  out  of  the  world : 
thine  they  were,  and  thou  gavest  them  me ;  and  they 
have  kept  thy  word.  Now  they  have  known  that  all 
things,  whatsoever  thou  hast  given  me,  are  of  thee  :  for 
I  have  given  unto  them  the  words  which  thou  gavest  mo ; 
and  they  have  received  them,  and  have  known  surely  that 
I  came  out  from  thee,  and  they  have  believed  that  thou 
didst  send  me.  ...  0  righteous  Father,  the  world  hath 
not  known  thee  :  but  I  have  known  thee,  and  these  have 
known  that  thou  hast  sent  me.  And  I  have  declared 
unto  them  thy  name,  and  will  declare  it;  that  the  love 
wherewith  thou  hast  loved  me  may  be  in  them,  and  I  in 
them."     "  So  shall  the  king  greatly  desire  thy  beauty." 

But  perhaps  an  example  or  two  may  cast  the  most 
satisfying  light  over  this  promise, — over  both  the  beauty 
— what  it  is,  in  at  least  some  of  its  leading  lines,  and  the 
desire  of  the  King  towards  it, — his  delight  in  it — what  that 
is.  Thus,  you  remember  that  word,  **  I  am  not  sent  but 
unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  Then  came  she 
and  worshij^ped  him,  saying,  Lord  help  me  !  "  All,  that  is 
beauty  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  Jesus— ''then  came  she 
and  worshipped  him,  saying,  Lord  help  me!  But  ho 
answered  and  said,  It  is  not  meet  to  take  children's 
bread,  and  to  cast  it  to  dogs.  And  she  said,  Truth,  Lord  : 
yet  the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs  which  fall  from  their 
masters'  table.  Then  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her, 
0  woman,  great  is  thy  faith  :  be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou 
wilt."  *'So  shall  the  King  greatly  desire  thy  beauty" 
— faith,    hard    in   hand   with   deep   humility   and   self- 

H 


114  CALL  TO  THE  EEIDE. 

abasement.  Or,  recall  that  word,  **  A  certain  centurion's 
servant,  wlio  was  dear  nnto  him,  was  sick,  and  ready  to 
die.  And  when  he  heard  of  Jesus,  he  sent  unto  him  the 
elders  of  the  Jews,  beseeching  him  that  he  would  come 
and  heal  his  servant.  And  when  they  came  to  Jesus,  they 
besought  him  instantly,  saying,  That  he  was  worthy  for 
whom  he  should  do  this  :  for  he  loveth  our  nation,  and  he 
hath  built  us  a  synagogue.  Then  Jesus  went  with  them. 
And  when  he  was  now  not  far  from  the  house,  the  cen- 
turion sent  friends  to  him,  saying  unto  him,  Lord,  trouble 
not  thyself ;  for  I  am  not  worthy  that  thou  shouldest  enter 
under  my  roof :  wherefore  neither  thought  I  myself  worthy 
to  come  unto  thee  :  but  say  in  a  word,  and  my  servant 
shall  be  healed.  For  I  also  am  a  man  set  under  authority, 
having  under  me  soldiers,  and  I  saj^  unto  one.  Go,  and  he 
goeth ;  and  to  another.  Come,  and  he  cometh  ;  and  to  my 
servant.  Do  this,  and  he  doeth  it.  When  Jesus  heard  these 
things,  he  marvelled  at  him,  and  turned  him  about,  and 
said  unto  the  people  that  followed  him,  I  say  unto  you,  I 
have  not  found  so  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel."  "  So 
shall  the  King  greatly  desire  thy  beauty"  —  faith,  still 
hand  in  hand  with  deep  humility,  and  working  by  love  to 
God  and  to  men.  Or,  remember  that  word,  ''Behold,  a 
woman  in  the  city,  which  was  a  sinner,  when  she  knew 
that  Jesus  sat  at  meat  in  the  Pharisee's  house,  brought  an 
alabaster-box  of  ointment,  and  stood  at  his  feet  behind 
him  weeping,  and  began  to  wash  his  feet  with  tears,  and 
did  wipe  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head,  and  kissed  his 
feet,  and  anointed  them  with  the  ointment.  .  .  .  Seest 
thou  this  woman  ?  I  entered  into  thine  house,  thou  gavest 
me  no  water  for  my  feet :  but  she  hath  washed  my  feet 
with  tears,  and  wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head. 
Thou  gavest  me  no  kiss  :  but  this  woman,  since  the  time  I 
came  in,  hath  not  ceased  to  kiss  my  feet.  My  head  with 
oil  thou  didst  not  anoint :  but  this  woman  hath  anointed 
my  feet  with  ointment.      Wherefore,  I  say  unto  thee, 


CALL  TO  THE  BRIDE.  115 

Her  sins,  which,  are  many,  are  forgiven.  .  .  .  Woman, 
thy  faith  hath  saved  thee  ;  go  in  peace."  **  So  shall  the 
King  greatly  desire  thy  beauty."  One  other  example. 
'*  Being  in  Bethany,  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper,  as 
he  sat  at  meat,  there  came  a  woman,"  (we  know  it  was 
Mary  of  Bethanj-,  the  sister  of  Martha)  "having  an  ala- 
baster box  of  ointment  of  spikenard,  very  precious  ;  and 
she  brake  the  box,  and  poured  it  on  his  head.  And  there 
were  some  that  had  indignation  within  themselves,  and 
said,  Wliy  was  this  waste  of  the  ointment  made  ?  For  it 
miglit  have  been  sold  for  more  than  three  hundred  pence, 
and  have  been  given  to  the  poor.  And  they  murmured 
against  her.  And  Jesus  said.  Let  her  alone  ;  why  trouble 
ye  her  ?  she  hatli  wrought  a  good  work  on  me.  .  .  .  Yerily 
I  say  unto  you.  Wheresoever  this  gospel  shall  be  preached 
throughout  the  whole  world,  this  also  that  she  hath  done 
shall  be  spoken  of  for  a  memorial  of  her."  "  So  shall  the 
King  greatly  desire  thy  beauty."  "  Thou  hast  ravished 
my  heart,  my  sister,  my  spouse ;  thou  hast  ravished 
my  heart  with  one  of  thine  eyes,  with  one  chain  of  thy 
neck."  ''How  fair  is  thy  love,  my  sister,  my  spouse! 
How  much  better  is  thy  love  than  wine,  and  the  smell  of 
thine  ointments  than  all  spices !  "  "0  my  dove,  that  art 
in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  in  the  secret  places  of  the  stairs, 
let  me  see  thy  countenance,  let  me  hear  thy  voice ;  for 
sweet  is  thy  voice,  and  thy  countenance  is  comely."  "As 
the  bridegroom  rejoiceth  over  the  bride,  so  shall  thy  God 
rejoice  over  thee."  "The  Lord  thy  God  in  the  midst  of 
thee  is  mighty ;  he  will  save  ;  he  will  rejoice  over  thee 
with  joy ;  he  will  rest  in  his  love ;  he  will  joy  over  thee 
with  singing."  "  Hearken,  0  daughter,  and  consider,  and 
incline  thine  ear ;  forgot  also  thine  own  people,  and  tliy 
father's  house :  so  shall  the  king  greatly  desire  thy  beauty." 

III.  And  now,  fmally,  we  have  tlie  further  exhortation 
here,  with  the  enforcement  of  it,  "  for  he  is  tliy  Lord,  and 


116  CALL  TO  THE  BRLDE. 

worship   thou   him."     He  is  thy  Lord.     May  it  not  be 
that  partly  this  comes  in  here  as  a  kind  of  counterpoise, 
balance,    over   against   the   deep    condescension    of    the 
previous  words,   "so  shall  the  King  greatly  desire  thy 
beauty."     He  is  thy  Lord.     For  there  is  a  certain  parity 
begotten  of  marriage — "they  shall  be  one  flesh;"   "he 
that  is  joined  to   the  Lord  is  one  spirit."     Hence  the 
amazing  words  in  the  Song,    "He  brought  me  to  the 
banqueting  house,  and  his  banner  over  me  was  love — His 
left  hand  is  under  my  head,   and  his  right  hand  doth 
embrace  me."     But  then,  never  for  a  moment  to  be  for- 
gotten is  the  unutterable  disparity  of  rank  between  the 
parties   in   this   marriage.     He   is   thy  Lord  —  not  only 
as  he  is  thy  Husband,  to  whom  thus  thou  owest  loyal 
obedience,  even  as  Sarah  is  said  to  have  obeyed  Abraham, 
calling  him  Lord, — but  such  a  Husband  as  is  thy  very 
Maker — "  thy  Maker  is  thine  Husband ;  the  Lord  of  hosts 
is  his   name " — such   a   Husband   as   had   before    been 
addressed  in  the  psalm,  "  Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for  ever 
and  ever" — such  a  Husband  as  is  not  only  thy  Lord,  but 
"Lord  of  all," — "Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  living," — 
whose  voice  is  heard  from  his  throne  of  glory,  saying,  "  I 
am  the  first  and  the  last,  and  the  living  One  ;  and  I  was 
dead ;  and,  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore,  and  have  the 
keys  of  hell  and  of  death."     "  He  is  thy  Lord,  and  ivorshqy 
thou  him.^^      0  yes,  let  your  love  be,  indeed,  nothing  less 
than  deepest  personal  attachment,  expressing  itself  thus, 
"  Let  him  kiss  me  with  the  kisses  of  his  mouth  " — "  Him 
whom  my  soul  loveth."    But  let  the  attachment  be  worship 
also,  adoration.     Let  it  be  the  attachment  of  Thomas's, 
"Mj^Lord  and  my  God."     Let  it  be  the  attachment  of 
the  song  of  heaven,  "To  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed 
us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  be  glory  and  dominion 
for  ever  and  ever."     Let  it  be  the  attachment  of  the  song 
of  the  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of 
thousands,  of  holy  angels,  who  sing,    "Worthy  is   the 


CALL  TO  THE  BRIDE.  117 

Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and 
wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and 
blessing."     *'  He  is  th}'  Lord ;   and  worship  thou  him." 

Only  remember  what  I  say,  let  tlio  attachment  bo  wor- 
sliip, — not  only  let  tlie  attachment  bo  tvorshi'j?,  but  let  the 
attachment  be  itself  worship.  For  if  it  be  true, — if  the 
love  be  indeed  supreme,  then  it  is  worship  already.  Oh, 
ye  who  are  attached  to  the  world,  and  supremely  love  it, 
that  is  your  object  of  worship, — that  is  your  god — no 
matter  though  you  never  bend  the  knee  before  it,  if  you 
give  your  heart  to  it.  Oh,  I  think  that  is  worship,  "  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  soul, 
and  mind,  and  strength."  And  that  is  worship  which 
Christ  claims  for  himself,  "He  that  loveth  father  or 
mother  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me."  And  so 
observe  how  this  second  exhortation  runs  back,  in  fact, 
into  the  previous  one,  "  Forget  thine  own  people,  and 
thy  father's  house."  ''"Worship  him,"  is  the  filling  of 
that  up,  as  it  were.  That  is  the  negative.  This  is  the 
positive.  That  is  the  leaving,  in  the  marriage,  of  father 
and  mother.  This  is  the  cleaving  to  the  glorious  Maker- 
husband  in  a  supreme  affection.  "  He  is  thy  Lord  ;  and 
worship  thou  Him,"  giving  thy  heart  to  him — thy  trust,  con- 
fidence, love,  adoration, — thyself,  thy  all,  saying,  "Entreat 
me  not  to  leave  thee,  nor  to  return  from  following  after 
thee."  "My  soul  followeth  hard  after  thee;  thy  right 
liand  upholdeth  me."  "Tell  me,  0  thou  wliom  my  soul 
loveth,  where  thou  feedest,  where  thou  makest  thy  flock 
to  rest  at  noon  ;  for  why  should  I  be  as  one  that  turneth 
aside  by  the  flocks  of  thy  companions?"  "  Set  me  as  a 
seal  upon  tliy  heart,  as  a  seal  upon  thine  arm  :  for  love  is 
strong  as  death  :  jealousy  is  cruel  as  the  grave  :  many 
waters  cannot  quench  love,  neither  can  the  floods  drown 
it :  if  a  man  would  give  all  the  substance  of  his  house 
for  love,  it  woukl  utterly  be  contemned."  "Hearken,  0 
daughter,  and  consider,  and  incline  thine  ear;  forget  also 


118  CALL  TO  THE  BRIDE. 

thine  own  peojple,  and  thy  father's  house;  so  shall  the 
King  greatly  desire  thy  beauty ;  for  he  is  thy  Lord,  and 
worship  thou  him." 

A  closing  word  about  heaven.  In  reading  the  promise, 
**so  shall  the  King  greatly  desire  thy  beauty,"  one  is 
reminded  of  another  promise,  **  Thine  eyes  shall  see  the 
King  in  his  beauty ;  they  shall  behold  the  land  that  is 
very  far  off."  Now  there  is  one  thing,  or  rather  there 
are  two  things,  in  which  earth  and  heaven  agree, — the 
spiritual  marriage  here  and  there.  Here  as  well  as 
there,  there  is  a  beauty  about  the  Church,  the  believer, 
which  the  King,  at  least,  can  behold.  And,  much  more 
easily  than  the  believer  can  see  any  beauty  about  him- 
self, he  can,  even  here,  see  the  beauty  of  the  King, — see 
the  King  in  his  beauty,  by  faith  at  least.  But  then,  here 
the  one  beauty  is  imperfect,  and  the  other  beauty  is 
veiled.  Here  the  beauty  of  the  believer  is  aU  imperfect ; 
and  the  beauty  of  the  King  is  at  best  seen  through  a 
glass  darkl}', — seen  through  many  a  cloud.  But  there  the 
one  beauty  shall  be  perfect,  and  the  other  shall  be 
unveiled.  The  beauty  of  the  believer  shall  be  that  of  the 
''glorious  Church,  not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any 
such  thing,  but  holy  and  without  blemish."  And  there, 
face  to  face  "thine  eyes  shaU  see  the  King  in  his  beauty." 
"His  servants  shall  serve  him;  and  they  shall  see  his 
face;  and  his  name  shall  be  in  their  foreheads.  And 
there  shall  be  no  night  there :  and  they  need  no  candle, 
neither  light  of  the  sun ;  for  the  Lord  Grod  giveth  them 
light;  and  they  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever."  Both 
beauties — the  believer's  perfected  and  the  King's  seen 
face  to  face — meet  in  that  blessed  word,  "  we  shall  be  like 
him ;  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is."  I  have  done.  0  ye 
that  are  yet  of  the  world, — that  have  your  portion  only  in 
this  life,  "we  are  journeying  to  the  place  of  which  the  Lord 
said,  I  will  give  it  jou :  come  with  us,  and  we  will  do  you 
good  ;  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  good  concerning  Israel." 


IX. 

CHIEF  EXD  OF  MAN. 

"  This  people  have  I  formed  for  myself ;  they  shall 
shew  forth  my  praise. ^^ — Isaiah  xliii,  21.* 

I  HAVE  not  read  tliese  words  so  raueli  for  a  text,  in  the 
usual  sense  of  tliat  word,  as  because  they  sound  the  key- 
note of  the  subject  on  which  I  am  to  speak  to  you,  namely, 
the  Chief  End  of  Man, — that  is  to  say,  the  purpose, 
design,  use,  of  his  existence — your  existence  and  mine — 
in  the  world. 

And,  first,  let  me  first  say  a  word  or  two,  more  in 
general,  respecting  the  ends,  designs,  uses  of  things. 
If  you  look  to  the  lower  creatures,  for  example,  you  find 
that  each  of  them  has  some  special  use, — some  mani- 
fest special  design  or  end  of  its  existence — as  the  bee 
to  make  its  wondrous  cell,  and  fill  it  with  honey;  the 
horse  to  carry  its  rider ;  the  sheep  to  furnish  materials  of 
clothing  from  its  fleece,  and  so  on.  And  these  creatures 
all  do  the  things  which  they  wore  made  for,  tliough 
without  knowing  anything  of  designs  or  uses.  Tliey  all 
answer,  fulfil,  the  several  ends  of  their  being.  But  they 
Icnow  notliing,  and  are  incapable  of  knowing  any- 
thing, of  uses  or  ends.  It  is  peculiar  to  man, — it  forms 
our  high  and  solemn  prerogative,  as  distinguished  from 
all  the  lower  creatures,  to  be  able  to  understand  about 

*  This  Discourse  was  addressed  to  Young  Men. 


120  CHIEF  END  OE  MAN. 

the  ends,  the  uses,  of  things.  Hence  it  is  I  am  speaking 
to  you  to-night.  And  it  is  very  noticeable,  accordingly, 
that  one  of  the  earliest  subjects  of  interest  and  inquiry 
with  our  youngest  children  is  the  use  of  this  thing,  and 
the  design  of  that  other.  But  there  is  one  thing,  strange 
to  say,  and  it  too  the  thing  we  have  necessarily  most 
of  all  to  do  with,  about  the  use  of  which  it  is  the  rarest 
thing  in  the  world  for  either  young  or  old  to  make 
any  serious  inquiry — and  that  is  ourselves, — what  is  the 
use  of  ourselves,  —  what  the  special  distinctive  design 
or  end  of  our  existence  in  the  world.  Assuredly  God, 
who  made  all  the  lower  creatures  for  some  manifest 
special  use,  did  not  make  man,  and  endue  him  with  these 
wondrous  powers  of  reason,  and  will,  and  conscience,  and 
fancy,  and  memory,  and  intelligent  speech,  without 
some  grand  distinctive  design  or  end,  worthy  of  Him- 
self and  of  them.  And  yet  it  is  certain,  and  surely 
very  strange,  that  men  everywhere  can  live,  and  do  live 
on,  their  twenty,  thirty,  forty,  seventy  years,  without  once 
asking  seriously  after  the  end  of  their  being, — what  it  is 
they  are  in  this  world  chiefly /or. 

Possibly  you  are  ready  to  say,  that  I  may  have  sug- 
gested the  solution  of  the  mystery,  when  saying  that 
the  inferior  creatures,  without  asking  or  knowing  any- 
thing of  uses  or  ends,  yet  do  the  things  they  were  seve- 
rally made  for.  May  it  not  be  so  with  us  also  ?  May  it 
not  be  that  men  sufhciently  do  what  they  we'^e  made  for 
without  any  anxious  inquiry  about  it  ?  I  might  answer, 
that  this  is  at  least  very  improbable, — in  the  last  degree 
imlikely.  Because  the  lower  creatures  all  act  in  this 
matter  by  the  power  of  resistless  instincts ;  whereas  we 
are  as  far  inferior  to  them  in  instinct  as  we  are  superior 
to  them  in  intellect.  And  it  is  surely  a  most  unlikely 
thing  that,  by  the  power  of  our  far  inferior  instincts, 
and  failing  to  use  that  intellect  which  God  has  given  us, 
we  should  stumble,  as  by  a  mere  happy  accident,  on  the 


CIIIKF  EXD  OF  MAX.  121 

true  end  of  our  being.  But  it  is  neodloss  reasoning  on  the 
matter.  You  have  only  to  ask  what  the  thing  is  for 
which  men  everywhere, — for  which  we  all, — do  natu- 
rally, actually,  chiefly,  live,  to  see  that  it  neither  is  nor 
can  be  the  end  for  which  the  all-wise  God  designed 
us.  What  is  it  ?  Why,  putting  it  broadly  and  gene- 
rally, it  is  just  that  we  may  get  somewhat  pleasantly  and 
comfortably  through  the  world, — enjoy  as  much  as  may 
be  the  various  things  of  this  present  fleeting  life.  AVell, 
there  is  one  supposition,  but  only  one,  on  which  this 
miffht  be  the  thinf?  we  were  made  for.  I  mean  the 
supposition  that  death  is  to  be  the  end  of  us, — that, 
like  the  brutes,  we  are  to  be  annihilated  when  we  die, 
and  there  is  to  be  no  more  of  us.  In  this  case,  probably 
enough  the  highest  end  of  our  being  might  be  to  enjoy 
as  much  as  possible  the  things  of  this  world.  And  all  that 
one  could  say  is,  that  it  were  a  very  wretched  design  and 
end  of  faculties  so  noble  ;  and  that,  destined  to  perish  like 
the  brutes,  they  were  to  be  exceedingly  envied  by  us,  since 
they  know  nothing  beforehand  of  their  approaching  death; 
but  we,  knowing  well  its  sure  and  near  approach,  behoved 
to  be  more  and  more  like  him  of  old  who  was  set  down 
to  his  feast  with  a  drawn  sword  suspended  over  his  head 
by  a  single  hair.  But  perhaps  I  ought  to  apologize  for 
even  putting  the  case  for  a  moment,  that  we  aie  to  be 
annihilated  at  death.  You  know  that  we  are  to  survive 
death, — to  live  after  it  as  long  as  God  lives, — to  live 
a  whole  eternity.  And  thus  it  cannot  possibly  be  that 
the  all-wise  God  should  have  made  us  to  exist  for 
the  things  of  this  first  short  stage  of  our  being, 
leaving  the  after  eternity,  improvided  for,  to  take  its 
chance. 

Does  any  one  feel  disposed  still  to  say,  that,  when  I 
state  the  thing  men  everywhere  live  for  as  being  to 
enjoy  as  much  as  possible  the  things  of  this  present 
life,   I  state  it  too  Ej)icureanhj^    and   forget   that   there 


122  CHIEF  END  OF  MAK". 

is  the  higher  and  better  end,  of  the  cultivating  of  our 
mental  powers  by  the  pursuits  of  literature  and  science  ? 
Nay,  I  do  not  forget  this.  I  simply  include  it  among 
the  things  of  this  present  world ;  because  it  is  not  pre- 
tended that  literature  and  science,  as  such,  have  to  do 
with  aught  beyond  this  present  life — although,  as  to 
the  high  cultivating  of  the  mental  powers,  I  might 
have  added  that  it  cannot  possibly  be  the  chief  end  of 
man,  inasmuch  as  a  handful  onl}^  of  men  can  pursue  it ; 
and  further,  that  it  is  but  a  miserable  result,  as  to  any  real 
satisfaction  of  soul,  that  comes  of  it  even  to  that  handful. 
Witness  the  illustrious  Goethe,  that  German  of  Germans 
as  to  genius,  highly  cultivated  intellect, — accomplish- 
ment of  every  kind.  Writing  in  his  seventy-fifth  year, 
he  says  in  one  of  his  letters: — "I  have  often  been 
praised  as  an  especial  favourite  of  fortune  ;  and  I  will 
not  myself  complain.  But  at  the  bottom  there  has  been 
nothing  but  trouble  and  labour ;  and  I  can  well  say, 
that  in  my  whole  five-and-seventy  years  I  have  not  had 
four  weeks  of  real  pleasure.  It  was  the  eternal  rolling  of 
a  stone,  that  had  always  to  be  lifted  up  again  for  a  new 
etart."  Appalling  utterance!  And  this  is  the  world  at 
the  very  best  of  it, — the  world,  with  the  genius,  literature, 
friends,  fame,  fortune — without  God ! 

Thus,  then,  we  have  found,  I  think,  these  three  things 
— first,  that  God,  who  made  all  the  lower  creatures  for 
some  special  use,  assuredly  did  not  make  man,  and  endue 
him  with  those  noble  powers,  without  a  grand  distinctive 
design  or  end  worthy  of  Himself  and  them ;  second,  tbat 
this  end  cannot  possibly  be  anything  bounded  by  this 
transitory  life ;  and  thus,  third,  that  the  end  for  which 
chiefly  we  were  made  must  needs  be  that  which  the  Scrip- 
tures tell  of  in  all  such  words  as  I  read  with  you  at  the 
outset,  ''  This  people  have  I  formed  for  mj^self;  they  shall 
shew  forth  my  praise," — even  to  know  the  ever  blessed 
God  :  to  serve  God ;  to  honour,  love  God  ;  to  enjoy  God ; 


CiriEr  END  OF  MAX.  1 23 

and  to  be  everlastingly  liapj^}- and  blessed  iu  the  know- 
ledge, service,  love,  and  enjoyment  of  Ilim. 

Manj^  things  I  might  say  to  you  about  this  end.  As, 
for  example,  that  it  is  a  very  high  and  noble  one, — that, 
as  it  is  considered  a  high  honour  by  our  chief  nobility 
to  serve  about  the  j^erson  of  the  Queen,  unspeakably  more 
honourable  and  noble  it  must  needs  be  to  serve  the  blessed 
and  only  Potentate,  the  King  of  kings.  And  I  might  say 
that  it  is  a  most  reasonable  and  righteous  end, — altogether 
righteous  and  reasonable  that,  since  God  made  us,  sus- 
tains us,  *'  gives  us  life  and  breath  and  all  things,"  we 
should  serve  and  honour  liim.  But  I  will  content  myself 
with  saying  only  this,  that  it  is  a  necessary  and  indis- 
pensable end, — that,  as  it  is  the  end  which  God  actually 
made  us  for,  it  is  altogether  indispensable  that  we  follow 
and  fulfil  it,  unless  we  are  to  live  in  a  terrible  conflict,  war, 
with  our  Maker,  and  so  inevitably  perish.  For,  if  God 
made  us  to  serve  and  honour  him,  and  we  do  it  not. 
then,  to  put  it  at  the  very  lowest,  we  are  useless  and 
unprofitable  on  God's  earth  ;  and  j^ou  know  that  we  are 
accustomed  to  cast  away  from  us  things  useless  for  the 
thing  they  were  designed  for.  But  then,  most  things  of 
this  world  which  are  useless  do  not  on  that  account  require 
to  be  positively  hurtful, — might  be  useless  without  being 
mischievous.  But  it  is  otherwise  with  us.  If  God  mado 
us  to  serve  and  honour  him,  and  we  pay  no  regard  to 
tliis  end,  then,  necessarily,  we  dishonour  God,  despise 
God,  treat  Him  with  high  indignity  and  contempt.  If 
we  do  not  the  thing  we  were  made  for,  we  must  do  the 
opposite  of  it.  If  we  serve  not  God,  we  must  serve 
the  devil.  If  we  serve  not  the  true  God,  we  must 
serve  false  gods, — creatures  of  all  kinds,  to  which  we 
give  the  regard,  affection,  trust,  that  are  due  to  God, 
and  so  unavoidably  fall,  ten  thousand  times,  under  the 
sentence  of  the  law  of  His  moral  government,  * '  The 
soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die" — "  Tliose  mine  enemies, 


124  CHIEP  EKD  OF  MAX. 

who  would  not  that  I  should  reign  over  them,  bring 
hither,  and  slay  them  before  me" — "Cursed  is  every 
one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in 
the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them." 

But,  blessed  be  God,  this  volume  has  not  come  to  us 
only  to  tell  the  end  or  use  we  were  made  for,  but  to 
tell  also  how  we  may  fulfil  it — ay  we, — how  we  now,  after 
having  failed  to  live  for  the  end, — after  twenty  years,  it 
may  be,  of  a  wasted,  vile,  God-dishonouring  life, — how 
we,  guilty  and  accursed,  may  yet  know,  and  serve,  and 
love,  and  everlastingly  enjoy,  God.  Let  me  say  earnestly 
to  you  here,  that  the  whole  Bible  may,  as  to  this  vital 
matter,  be  summed  up  in  one  grand  word  —  Christ, 
Christ.  For,  if  we  get  Christ,  we  get  three  things — 
his  Blood,  his  Spirit,  his  Love.  We  get  his  atoning 
Blood.  Till  then,  we  cannot  serve  God,  and  for  this 
reason  among  others,  that,  until  then,  our  case  is 
like  that  of  some  criminal  in  prison  under  sentence 
of  death,  who  might  dream  while  asleep  of  serving  his 
sovereign  and  his  country,  but,  alas  !  can  only  now  serve 
them — unless^  at  least,  the  sentence  can  be  in  some  way 
cancelled — by  his  execution  according  to  the  country's  law. 
But  so  soon  as  we  get  Christ  and  his  blood,  our  sentence 
of  death  falls  off  from  us.  Christ's  blood  has  gone  for 
ours, — his  death  for  ours.  We  are  ''  redeemed  from  the 
curse  of  the  law"  by  Christ  "made  a  curse  for  us." 
And  further,  when  we  get  Christ,  we  get  his  Spirit,  his 
renewing  Sj^irit,  turning  the  whole  course  and  current  of 
our  affections  and  desires  from  sin  to  God,  from  earth  to 
heaven.  And  further  still  (and  here  I  would  affectionately 
crave  your  close  attention),  when  we  get  Christ  we  get 
his  Love,  his  wondrous  constraining  love — constraining,  I 
mean,  not  as  by  some  painful  necessity  imposed  from  with- 
out, but  by  a  blessed  and  loved  constraint  acknowledged 
willingly  from  within — constraining  us  to  live  to  God, — to 
live  to  Him  who  redeemed  us  to  God  with  his  blood.     Let 


CniEF  END  OF  MAN.  1  25 

me  illustrate  this  by  an  incident.  A  gentleman  was 
l^assing-  through  a  city  of  the  Southern  States  of  America 
in  the  old  days  of  slavery,  and  went  to  see  its  slave- 
market.  He  was  attracted  by  one  of  a  grouji  put  up  for 
sale.  The  rest  looked  unconcerned,  and  careless  of  their 
fate :  but  a  young  woman,  of  sweet  and  modest  apj)ear- 
ance,  trembled  from  head  to  foot,  and  wept.  Asking  the 
reason  of  the  great  difference,  he  was  told  that  the  others 
had  come  from  ordinary  masters,  and  were  not  afraid  of 
getting  worse;  but  this  girl  had  been  carefully  reared, 
and  was  afraid  by  whom  she  might  be  bought.  The 
gentleman  asked  hor  price;  he  hesitated  at  the  sum, 
but  paid  it  down.  AVhen  he  told  her  that  she  was  free, 
she  did  not  cease  to  weep.  She  had  always  been  a 
slave,  and  did  not  know  what  the  word  meant.  She 
looked  at  her  purchaser  with  fear,  and  wept  over  the 
paper  of  sale  which  he  gave  her  to  make  it  plain.  It  was 
only  when  she  saw  him  prepare  to  leave  the  place,  and 
bid  her  farewell,  that  she  comprehended  it.  Clinging  to 
him,  she  said,  "I  will  follow  him,  I  will  serve  him  all 
my  days;"  and  to  ever}^  objection,  she  only  said,  He 
redeemed  me;  he  redeemed  me;  he  redeemed  me.  She 
was  taken  home;  and  when,  through  long  years  of  de- 
voted service,  strangers  coming  to  her  master's  dwelling 
would  remark  her  willingness,  and  anticipation  of  every 
wish,  and,  saying  that  they  had  never  seen  a  servant  so 
eager  and  untiring  in  her  labour,  would  ask  her  why? 
she  had  but  one  reply  to  give  as  at  the  first — He  redeemed 
me  ;  he  redeemed  me ;  he  redeemed  me  ! 

Or  take  another  illustration,  from  ancient  story.  Dur- 
ing the  wars  of  Cyrus  of  Persia,  he  took  captive  Tigranes, 
son  of  the  King  of  Armenia,  with  his  wife.  Tigranes 
offered  to  purchase  his  wife's  freedom  with  his  life. 
Cyrus,  struck  with  the  generosity  of  the  offer,  set  them 
both  at  liberty.  Upon  which  the  courtiers  began  to  praise 
the  clemency  and  magnanimity  of  the  conqueror.     One 


126  CHIEF  END  OF  MAN. 

praised  this  quality  of  Cyi^us,  and  anotlier  that.  The  wife 
of  Tigranes  having  been  asked  what  she  most  admired  in 
him,  replied,  *'I  was  not  thinking  of  him."  ''Of  whom, 
then?"  they  asked.  "Of  him,"  she  answered,  "who 
said  that  he  would  purchase  my  liberty  with  the  price 
of  his  life,"  Ah  yes — He  redeemed  me;  he  redeemed 
me;  he  redeemed  me  !  "  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth 
us,"  Paul  says,  "  because  we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died 
for  all,  then  all  died" — died  in  him,  that  is  to  say, — 
endured  the  law's  penalty  in  his  death — "and  that  he 
died  for  all,  that  they  who  live  should  not  henceforth 
live  unto  themselves,  but  imto  him  who  died  for  them, 
and  rose  again." 

Yery  dear  friends,  I  am  now,  of  course,  very  far  from 
being  a  young  man ;  and  it  may  be  allowed  me  to  say  a 
word  to  the  young  men  whom  I  address,  respecting  myself. 
When  I  was  a  young  man,  and,  as  it  happened,  a  student 
for  the  bar  in  Edinburgh,  I  was  given  up  wholly  to  the 
world.  I  had  no  thought  or  desire  be3'ond  it,  and  would 
have  reckoned  life  worth  little  indeed  without  theatres,  and 
such  like  amusements.  When  it  pleased  God  to  open  my 
eyes,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  to  behold  Christ  crucified,  and 
to  see  my  whole  previous  ungodly  life  nailed,  as  it  were, 
to  his  cross,  and  made  an  end  of  there,  I  never  once 
dreamed  more  of  such  satisfactions  and  enjoyments.  I 
had  found  angels'  food,  and  could  part  easily  with  ashes, 
— had  found  unsearchable  riches,  and  no  more  cared 
for  dust.  It  cost  no  sacrifice  to  part  with  such  things. 
They  were  not  given  up  as  by  any  violent  efibrt,  but  simply 
"  dropped  off,"  to  use  the  words  of  a  modern  writer,  "  as 
the  dead  leaves  fall  off  from  the  tree,  when  propelled  by 
the  new  blossoms  and  buds  that  are  forcing  their  way 
through  from  behind,  or  as  some  one  gathering  poor 
pebbles  on  the  sea-shore  would  let  them  unconsciously 
drop,  if  one  were  offering  him  jewels  and  precious  stones 
in  their  stead."     I  have  long  admired  a  few  words  of  old 


CHIEF  END  OF  MAX.  j  27 

Augustine,  who,  writing  fourteen  hundred  years  ago  of 
his  conversion,  and  referring  to  certain  pleasures  he  had 
long  indulged,  and  felt  it  impossible  for  him  to  abandon, 
says,  '*IIow  sweet  did  it  at  once  become  to  mo  to  want 
the  sweetnesses  of  those  toys !  and  what  I  feared  to  bo 
parted  from  was  now  a  joy  to  part  ivlth.  For  Thou 
didst  cast  them  forth  from  me,  thou  true  and  highest  sweet- 
ness. Thou  castedst  them  forth,  and,  for  them,  enteredst 
in  thyself,  sweeter  than  all  pleasure."  It  is  as  our  Lord 
Jesus  says,  **Tho  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  trea- 
sure hid  in  a  field  ;  the  which  when  a  man  hath  found, 
he  hideth,  and  for  joy  thereof  goeth  and  selleth  all  that 
he  hath,  and  buyeth  that  field." 

My  theme,  then,  has  been  the  Chief  End  of  man.  Noblo 
theme  indeed, — grand  question  of  questionSj  what  we  are 
in  this  world  chiefly  for.  Hence  does  it  form  the  open- 
ing question  of  our  country's  Catechism.  And  I  may 
be  allowed,  before  closing,  to  indicate  the  mighty  prac- 
tical bearing  of  that  question  by  two  incidents,  belong- 
ing respectively  to  the  opposite  extremes  of  social  life. 
The  one  refers  to  a  lady  of  rank  who  lived  about  a 
century  ago,  and  whose  name  is  still  known  in  this  city 
from  one  of  its  churches  which  bears  her  title,  "Lady 
Glenorchy's  Church."  Her  husband  was  the  only  son, 
and  of  course  heir  (but  died  in  early  life),  of  the  -Earl  of 
Breadalbane.  Lady  Glenorchy,  up  to  the  age  of  twenty, 
was  a  gay  and  thoughtless  creature — of  high  accom- 
plishment, but  entirely  devoted  to  the  world, — its  follies, 
amusements,  ways.  When  staying  at  Taymoutli  Castle 
in  the  summer  of  1765  (as  she  tells  us  in  a  Diary 
she  afterwards  kept),  she  was  seized  with  a  fever  thai 
threatened  to  end  her  life.  In  the  course  of  it,  she 
tells  us,  the  first  question  of  the  Shorter  Catechism 
was  brought  to  her  remembrance,  as  if  some  one  had 
asked  it,  "  What  is  the  chief  end  of  man  ?  "  AVhen  she 
thought  of  the  answer,   <'To  glorify  God,  and  to  enjoy 


128  CHIEF  END  OP  MAN. 

him  for  ever,"  alie  was  at  once  overwhelmed  with,  confu- 
sion and  dismay.  She  felt  that  she  had  never  sought  to 
glorify  God  in  all  her  life  ;  and  she  had  no  idea  of  what 
was  even  meant  by  enjoying  him  for  ever.  It  issued  in 
her  finding  the  adorable  Saviour,  and  in  her  entire  con- 
secration to  God.  She  closes  the  entry  in  her  Diary  with 
the  following  words : — **I  now  beseech  thee,  0  Lord,  to 
accept  of  my  soul,  body,  reputation,  property,  influence, 
— everything  that  is  called  mine,  and  to  do  with  them 
whatever  seemeth  good  in  thy  sight.  I  desire  neither 
ease,  health,  nor  prosperity,  any  further  than  may  be 
useful  to  promote  thy  glory.  Let  thy  blessed  will  be 
done  in  me,  and  by  me,  from  this  day  forth.  Let  thy 
grace  be  sufficient  for  me,  and  enable  me  to  overcome  the 
world.  And  to  thee  be  ascribed  the  honour  and  glory 
now  and  for  evermore.  Amen."  Soon  after,  Lady  Glen- 
orchy  built  the  church  in  Edinburgh  for  the  preaching 
of  the  glorious  gospel,  which  bears  her  name. 

The  other  incident  is  from  the  very  opposite  extreme  of 
social  life,  relating  to  a  man  of  the  savage  tribe  of  the 
Bechuanas  in  Africa.  I  had  it  from  the  distinguished 
African  missionary,  Dr  Moffat,  father-in-law  of  Living- 
stone, the  traveller.  Moffat  had  almost  made  a  language 
for  this  savage  tribe,  and  had  translated  the  Shorter 
Catechism  into  it.  He  told  me  that  one  of  the  most 
intelligent  and  consistent  of  all  the  converts  of  his  mis- 
sion had  become  a  changed  man  by  means  of  the  same 
first  question  of  the  Catechism,  and  precisely  as  in  the 
case  of  Lady  Glenorchy.  One  day,  when  thinking  of  the 
question,  ''What  is  the  chief  end  of  man?"  and  of  the 
answer,  "  To  glorify  God,  and  to  enjoy  him  for  ever,"  he 
felt  that  if  this  was  indeed  what  he  was  made  for,  then 
he  was  a  lost  man — his  whole  life  had  been  a  crime, — one 
continued  course  of  sin.  He  found  no  rest  till  he  found 
it  in  the  blood  of  Christ  the  Saviour. 

And  now  I  have  done.     It  is  for  you  all  a  choice  be- 


J 


CniEF  EXD  OF  MAN.  129 

tween  two  things.  Ono  is,  the  very  beasts  rising  in 
judgment  against  you — tlio  beasts,  that  know  nothing 
of  the  uses  of  tilings,  and  yet  do  the  things  for  which 
God  made  tliem,— against  j'ou  who  are  able  to  under- 
stand what  God  made  you  for,  but  refuse  to  do  it.  One 
is,  your  going  through  the  world  without  knowing  for 
what — reeling  to  and  fro,  and  staggering  as  a  drunken 
man — or  like  some  ship  on  the  ocean  without  rudder  or 
compass.  Ono  is  your  living  for  the  first  brief  stage 
of  your  being,  and  leaving  the  long  eternity  to  take  its 
chance.  The  other  is,  your  coming  to  the  Lord  Jesus ; 
getting  his  Blood,  his  Spirit,  his  Love  ;  and  thus  learning 
to  live  for  that  noble,  righteous,  indispensable,  end  for 
which  you  were  made — even  to  glorify  God,  and  to  enjoy 
him  for  ever, — enjoy  him,  in  some  good  measure  even  here 
below  (and  in  him,  and  with  him,  none  the  less,  but  very 
much  the  more,  the  literature,  science,  recreations, — all 
the  lawful  things  of  this  life),  and  more  fully  enjoy  him 
in  the  mansions  of  the  Father's  house  above.  Look  on 
that  picture,  and  on  this.  On  that  picture.  Says  the  same 
Goethe,  "Alas!  that  there  is  never  herej'^  And  look  on 
this  picture.  The  German  Christian  Professor  Tholuck, 
with  reference  to  that  utterance  of  Goethe,  exclaims,  *'Tn 
Christ  there  will  be  here.^^  Look  on  that  picture.  **The 
ground  of  a  certain  rich  man  brought  forth  plentifully : 
and  he  thought  within  himself,  saying.  What  shall  I  do, 
because  I  have  no  room  where  to  bestow  my  fruits  ?  And 
he  said,  This  will  I  do :  I  will  pull  down  my  barns,  and 
build  greater ;  and  there  will  I  bestow  all  my  fruits  and 
my  goods.  And  I  will  say  to  my  soul.  Soul,  thou  hast 
much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years  ;  take  thine  ease,  cat, 
drink,  and  be  merry.  But  God  said  unto  him,  Thou  fool, 
this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee  :  then  whoso 
shall  those  things  be  which  thou  hast  provided?"  And 
look  on  this  picture.  "  0  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant ;  I 
am  thy  servant,  and  the  son  of  thine  handmaid  ;  thou  hast 


130  CHIEF  END  OF  MAX. 

loosed  my  bonds."  "  Godliness  is  profitable  unto  all 
things,  having  the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of 
that  which  is  to  come."  "  Martha,  Martha,  thou  art 
careful  and  troubled  about  many  things  ;  but  one  thing  is 
needful ;  and  Mary  hath  chosen  that  good  part,  which  shall 
not  be  taken  away  from  her."  "  What  are  these  which 
are  arrayed  in  white  robes  ?  and  whence  came  they  ?  And 
I  said  unto  him,  Sir,  thou  hnowest.  And  he  said  to  me, 
These  are  they  which  came  out  of  great  tribulation,  and 
have  washed  their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb.  Therefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God, 
and  serve  him  day  and  night  in  his  temple  :  and  he  that 
Bitteth  on  the  throne  shall  dwell  among  them.  They 
Bhall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more  ;  neither 
shall  the  sun  light  on  them,  nor  any  heat.  For  the  Lamb, 
which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne,  shall  feed  them,  and 
shall  lead  them  unto  living  fountains  of  waters  ;  and  God 
shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes." 


X 


JESUS  ONLY. 

"And  after  six  days  Jesus  taheth  Peter,  Jatreii,  and 
John  his  brother,  and  hringeth  them  up  into  an  high 
monntain  apart,  and  was  transfgured  before  them :  and 
his  face  did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  his  raiment  ivas  white 
as  the  light.  And,  behold,  there  appeared  unto  them 
Moses  and  EUas  talking  with  him.  Then  answered 
Peter,  and  said  unto  Jesus,  Lord,  it  is  good  for  us 
to  be  here:  if  thou  wilt,  let  us  maJce  here  three  taber- 
nacles; one  for  thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for 
KUas.  While  he  yet  spalce,  behold,  a  bright  cloud  over- 
shadowed them :  and  behold  a  voice  out  of  the  cloud, 
xohich  said.  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am 
well  2>leased ;  hear  ye  him.  And  when  the  disciples 
heard  it,  they  fell  on  their  face,  and  were  sore  afraid. 
And  Jesus  came  and  touched  them,  and  said.  Arise, 
and  be  not  afraid.  And  when  they  had  lifted  up  their 
eyes,  they  saw  no  man,  save  Jesus  only." — Mattuew 
xviL  1-8. 

Text — "And  ivhen  they  had  lifted  up  their  eyes,  they 
saw  no  man,  save  Jesus  only." 

If  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  ^e  have  much  more  here 
tlian  a  simple  fact  or  incident.  We  have  a  fact,  embodying 
also  a  principle, — a  fact  suggesting,  and  which  I  cannot 
doubt  was  designed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  suggest  and  to 
embody,  a  principle  of  wide  and  vital  application.  Let 
mo  invite  your  attention,  shortly,  first  to  the  fact, 
"  When  they  had  lifted  up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  man, 
save  Jesus  only;"  then  to  the  principle,  which  may  be 


132  JESUS  OXIiY. 

indicated  perhaps  by  reading  the  last  two  words  by  them- 
selves, "Jesus  only." 

I.  The  fact  belongs,  as  you  perceive,  to  that  great  and 
central  event  in  the  Saviour's  life,  his  Transfiguration, 
when,  for  a  very  brief  space — not  probably  for  above  an 
hour  at  the  utmost — "his  visage  so  marred  more  than  any 
man,  and  his  form  more  than  the  sons  of  men,"  became 
strangely  altered, — when  the  body  of  his  humiliation 
underwent,  for  a  little  space,  a  change  of  a  very  peculiar 
character,  and  things  were  seen  and  heard  by  those  dis- 
ciples which  they  were  charged  to  tell,  and  did  tell,  to  no 
man  till  the  Lord  was  risen  from  the  dead.  Jesus,  taking 
with  him  Peter  and  James  and  John,  went  up  into  a  high 
mountain — "to  pray,"  as  Luke  tells  us;  "and  as  he 
prayed,  the  fashion  of  his  countenance  was  altered,  and 
his  raiment  was  white  and  glistening."  Matthew  says 
here,  "He  was  transfigured  before  them;  and  his  face 
did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  his  raiment  was  white  as  the 
light" — "became  shining,"  are  the  words  of  Mark, 
"exceeding  white  as  snow;  so  as  no  fuller  on  earth  can 
white  them."  Let  me  just  say  as  to  this,  that,  however 
wonderful  it  is  apt  to  seem  to  us,  and  in  many  respects 
of  course  was,  yet  the  greatest  wonder  lay  in  a  quite 
different  direction, — was  not  so  much  that  that  face  did, 
for  a  very  little  while,  "  shine  as  the  sun,"  but  rather 
that  it  ever  was  otherwise  with  Him  who  was  the  very 
"  Sun  of  Eighteousness," — "  the  brightness  of  the  Father's 
glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person," — from  ever- 
lasting the  fellow  and  equal  of  the  Lord  of  hosts !  What, 
after  all,  was  the  transfiguration,  but  the  withdrawing,  for 
a  brief  hour,  of  the  veil  which,  in  the  Incarnation — that 
true  wonder  of  wonders — had  fallen  down  over  the  glory 
of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father?  Much  less  wonderful, 
surely,  the  withdrawing  of  the  veil  for  a  moment,  than 
that    it    should   ever   have   existed ;    or  that,    alter  its 


I 


JESUS  OXLY.  133 

momGntary  M'ithdra'wal,  it  should  again  have  fallen  down 
in  a  deeper  darkness  than  ever, — the  darkness  of  the  cross 
and  of  the  grave  ! 

Doubtless  it  was  in  the  view  of  that  approaching  deeper 
darkness,  that  the  whole  event  of  the  transfiguration  took 
place.  For  the  more  immediate  connection  of  it  was  this. 
At  the  twenty-first  verse  of  the  previous  chapter  wo  read, 
**  From  that  time  forth  began  Jesus  to  shew  unto  his 
disciples " — to  tell  them  in  express  and  unmistakable 
language — "how  that  he  must  go  unto  Jerusalem,  and 
sufier  many  things  of  the  elders  and  chief  priests  and 
scribes,  and  be  killed,  and  bo  raised  again  the  third  day." 
Killed  ?  So  unprepared  were  the  disciples  for  this,  that 
we  actually  read  in  the  next  verse,  *'Then  Peter  took 
him,  and  began  to  rebuke  him,  saying,  Be  it  far  from 
thee,  Lord;  this  shall  not  be  unto  thee.''  Well;  Jesus 
was  not  content  with  meeting  the  presumption  of  his 
apostle,  as  it  required  to  be  met,  very  sharply  and 
decidedly,  **turnnig  and  saying  to  him,"  as  it  follows, 
"Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan;  thou  art  an  offence  unto 
me,  for  thou  savourest  not  the  things  that  be  of  God,  but 
those  that  be  of  men."  It  pleased  him  graciously,  and  it 
pleased  the  Father,  that  about  a  week  after,  there  should 
be  granted  to  the  three  disciples  such  a  discovery  of  the 
unutterable  glory  of  Christ,  lying  hid  beneath  the  veil  of 
the  flesh  with  its  sufferings,  as  might  well  prepare  and 
fortify  them  against  whatever  shock  the  approaching 
events  might  give  to  their  faith.  To  the  same  end  it 
evidently  was,  that,  simultaneously  with  the  change  on 
the  Saviour's  body  and  on  his  raiment,  "behold,"  as  we 
read  in  the  tliird  verse,  "there  appeared  unto  them 
Moses  and  Elias  talking  with  him" — "who  appeared  in 
glorj","  Luke  says,  "and  spake  of  his  decease  which  he 
should  accompli.sh  at  Jerusalem."  Moses  and  Ellas,  the 
representatives  of  the  Church  of  the  old  testament,  and, 
respectively,  the  representatives  of  the  law  and  of  the 


134  JESUS  ONLY. 

propliets,  appeared  with  Jesus,  to  bear  witness  before 
these  disciples,  and  through  them  ultimately  to  the 
Church  in  every  age,  that  this  was  He  of  whom  Moses 
in  the  law  and  the  prophets  did  write, — the  Messiah 
promised  to  the  fathers ;  to  bear  witness  to  the  perfect, 
glorious  harmony  of  the  old  testament  and  the  new, 
together  the  one  covenant  of  Jehovah's  grace;  and,  more 
specifically,  as  to  that  death  which  at  the  first  was  to 
seem  so  dreadful  to  these  disciples,  to  bear  witness  to  it 
as  in  fact  the  grand  event  of  the  universe ;  the  theme  of 
heaven's  highest  praises;  and  the  centre  of  the  whole 
harmony  of  the  old  covenant  and  the  new,  in  which  the 
righteousness  of  the  one,  and  the  grace  and  peace  of  the 
other,  were  for  ever  to  meet  and  embrace  each  other. 

But  it  was  to  come  out  at  once,  what  a  contrast  there 
was  as  yet  between  the  two  glorified  men, — *'just  men 
made  perfect," — and  the  three  poor  disciples  still  in  the 
flesh,  now  oppressed  with  fatigue,  heavy  with  sleep, 
filled  also  with  alarm,  mingling  with  admiration  of  the 
glorious  things  passing  before  their  eyes.  It  was  under 
the  influence  of  these  mingled  feelings  that  Peter  ad- 
dressed to  Jesus  the  strange  words  we  read  in  the  fourth 
verse,  "  Then  answered  Peter,  and  said  unto  Jesus,  Lord, 
it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here  :  if  thou  wilt,  let  us  make  here 
three  tabernacles ;  one  for  thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and 
one  for  Elias."  Strange  words  indeed!  "Well  might 
one  evangelist  add,  *'  not  knowing  what  he  said,"  and 
another,  "for  he  wist  not  what  to  say  ;■  for  they  were 
sore  afraid."  "  Three  tabernacles ;  one  for  thee,  and 
one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elias  "  !  How  does  Peter 
lose  sight,  for  the  moment,  of  the  deep  line  of  separation 
between  the  Master  and  the  servants,  the  Saviour  and 
the  saved, — between  the  two  stars,  and  the  glorious 
Sun  beside  them,  whence  they  derived  all  their  lustre  ! 
No  doubt  he  puts  Jesus  first,  **  one  for  thee,  and  one 
for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elias."     But  it  is  very  much 


JESUS  OXLY.  135 

as  we  say,  primus  inter  pares, — first  among  equals, — in 
place  of  standing-  quite  alone  among  ever  so  many,  in 
unapproaclied  grace  and  glory. 

But  the  dream  is  quickly  broken  up.  *' AVliile  he  yet 
spake,"  the  evangelist  continues,  '*  heboid,  a  bright  cloud 
overshadowed  them  :  and  behold  a  voice  out  of  the  cloud, 
which  said,  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased;  hear  ye  him."  Hear  him, — not  Moses,  nor  Elias, 
but  Ilira  hy  whom  they  spake,  of  whom  they  spake. 
''And  when  the  disciples  heai-d  it"  (Cth  verse),  "they 
fell  on  their  face,  and  were  sore  afraid."  Ah,  even  had 
Moses  and  Elias  remained  on  the  mountain,  they  could 
have  done  nothing  for  them  in  this  their  deep  weakness 
and  fear.  It  was  now  with  them  very  much  as  with  one  of 
their  own  number  at  an  after  period  in  Patmos — "  When 
I  saw  him,"  said  John,  "I  fell  at  his  feet  as  dead."  Well 
it  was  for  them  that  the  same  Saviour  who  then  laid  his 
right  hand  on  John,  saying  to  him,  "  Fear  not;  I  am  the 
first  and  the  last,  and  the  living  One ;  and  I  was  dead ; 
and,  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore;  and  have  the  key;- 
of  hell  and  of  death,"  was  with  them  now,  by  a  word 
to  reassure,  and  by  a  touch  to  restore,  them.  **  And 
Jesus  came"  (7th  verse),  "  and  touched  them,  and  said. 
Arise,  and  be  not  afraid."  0  marvellous  words  !  Jesus, 
nowise  elated  by  the  splendours  of  that  scene — calm  and 
tranquil  in  the  midst  of  them,  as  if  nothing  extraordinary 
had  happened, — as  one  to  whom  splendour  was  nowise 
strange, — was  in  fact  his  native  element — Jesus,  with  an 
unutterable  majesty  and  tenderness  united,  "  came  and 
touched  them,  and  said,  Arise,  and  be  not  afraid."  The 
evangelist  adds,  "And  when  they  had  lifted  up  their 
eyes,  they  saw  no  man,  save  Jesus  only."  As  I  said, 
even  had  Moses  and  Elias  been  still  present,  they  could 
have  done  nothing  for  them.  But  they  were  gone.  The 
dream  was  broken  uj)  not  only  by  "  the  voice  from  the 
excellent  glory,"   but  by  the  de^^arturo  of  the  heavenly 


136  JESUS  ONLY. 

visitants — "When  they  had  lifted  up  their  eyes,  they  saw 
no  man,  save  Jesus  only." 

II.  And  thus  are  we  brought  to  the  principle, — from 
the  fact  to  the  principle  which  it  embodies,  and  which 
might  be  expressed  thus — that,  however  high  a  subordi- 
nate place  may  be  occupied  by  holy  men,  whether  on 
earth  or  in  heaven,  Jesus  is  to  be  seen  ever,  standing 
quite  alone  among  them — the  one  Prophet,  Teacher, 
Priest,  King,  Lord,  Husband,  Hope,  Joy,  very  Heaven, 
of  his  Church  ;  and  that  the  clearer  the  eye  of  faith,  the 
more  shall  he  be  thus  seen  alone,  even  as  it  is  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  or  the  dim  twilight,  that  the  stars 
are  visible,  but  when  the  sun  arises  they  disappear, 
"  When  they  had  lifted  up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  man, 
save  Jesus  only."  Let  me  try  to  illustrate  the  principle 
rapidly,  in  its  application  to  these  particulars — Jesus 
only  in  the  saving  of  our  souls  ;  Jesus  only  in  all  the 
Scriptures;  Jesus  only  in  the  ministry  and  preaching 
of  the  word ;  Jesus  only  in  our  heart's  trust,  affection, 
worship  ;  Jesus  only  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death  ;  Jesus  only  in  the  everlasting  blessedness  and 
glory  of  heaven. 

1.  First,  I  have  said,  Jesus  only  in  the  saving  of  our  souls. 
Ah  !  Moses  and  Elias  were  now  in  glory  for  the  sake  of 
"  Jesus  only."  Yea,  they  were  out  of  liell,  only  for  the 
sake  of  that  **  decease"  of  Jesus  of  which  they  spake, — 
which  he  was  about  to  "  accomx^lish  at  Jerusalem,"  when 
he  should  tread  the  wine-press  alone,  and  of  the  people 
none  should  be  with  him — alone  in  the  salvation  of  our 
souls  !  Why  is  it  that  the  Church  of  the  great  apostasy 
is  so  anxious  to  make  out — of  course,  it  is  but  a  dream — 
that  Mar}^  the  motiier  of  Jesus,  was  sinless, — immaculate 
even  in  the  womb  of  her  own  motlier, — but  because  they 
will  have  her  a  co-Saviour  with  JesuR ;  and  she  could  not 
well  save  others,  having  any  sin  of  her  own  ?     But,  as  the 


JESUS  OXLY.  1C7 

Immaculato  Conception  is  a  dream,  so  the  co-Saviour- 
sliip  is  a  blaspliomy,  abhorred  by  none  more  tlian  by 
Mary  herself,  who  also  is  out  of  liell,  only  for  the  sake  of 
Jesus,  and  his  blood — "Neither"  (as  Peter  spake  at  an 
after  period)  "  is  there  salvation  in  any  other  ;  for  there 
is  none  other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men, 
whereby  we  must  be  saved." 

2.  Secondly,  I  said,  Jesus  onhj  in  all  the  Scriptures — the 
only  author  of  them,  the  only  subject,  theme,  of  them. 
The  onl}^  author  of  the  Scriptures,  Jesus.  ''Hear  Am," 
was  the  voice  from  the  eternal  Father, — not  Moses,  nor 
Eh'as, — not  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Daniel.  For,  "the  pro- 
phets," as  Peter  afterwards  wrote,  "  inquired  and  searched 
diligently,  searching  what,  or  wliat  manner  of  time,  tlio 
Spirit  of  Chrkt  which  was  in  them  did  signify."  And 
as  for  the  New  Testament,  it  is  not — according  to  the 
favourite  Socinian  manner  of  citing  it — Paul,  James,  Jesus, 
John.  0  no.  "  I  Paul,  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ."  "Ye 
have  not  so  learned  Christ ;  if  so  be  that  ye  have  heard 
him,  and  have  been  taught  by  him,  as  the  truth  is  in 
Jesus."  Yes,  "learned  Christ,'^ — "the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus."  For  He  is  the  only  subject,  theme,  as  well  as 
author,  of  the  Scriptures.  All  their  lines  meet  in  this 
centre.  "  They  arc  they,"  said  he,  "which  testify  of  me." 
"Beginning  at  Moses,  and  all  the  prophets,  he  expounded 
unto  them  in  all  the  Scriptures  the  things  concerning 
Himself." 

3.  Thirdly,  I  said,  Jesus  onh/  in  the  ministry  and  preach- 
ing of  the  Word.  Take  two  preachers.  Paul  —  "I 
determined,"  he  sa3'S,  "not  to  know  anything  among 
you  save  Jesus  Christ."  "I  am  jealous  over  you  with 
godly  jealousy;  fori  have  espoused  you  to  one  Jiusband, 
that  I  may  present  you  as  a  chaste  virgin  to  Christ." 
And  John  the  Ijaptist.  You  recollect  his  memorablo 
reply  to  some  of  his  disciples,  who  came  to  him,  saying, 
"  Eabbi,  he  that  was  with  thee  beyond  Jordan,  to  whom 


138  JESUS  ONLY-. 

thou  Learest  witness,  beliolcl,  the  same  baptizeth,  and  all 
men  come  to  him."  "  Ye  yourselves,"  said  he,  "bear 
me  witness  that  I  said,  I  am  not  the  Christ,  but  that  I  am 
sent  before  him.  lie  that  hath  the  bride  is  tlie  hridegroom^^ 
— as  if  he  had  said,  who  but  the  bridegroom  should  have 
the  heart  of  the  bride? — "but  the  friend  of  the  bride- 
groom " — that  is  my  place — "  which  standeth  and  heareth 
him,  rejoiceth  greatly  because  of  the  bridegroom's  voice  : 
this  my  joy  therefore  is  fulfilled.  He  must  increase,  but 
I  must  decrease  .  .  .  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath 
everlasting  life :  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall 
not  see  life  ;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." 

4.  And  thus,  fourthly,  I  said,  Jesus  only  in  our  hearfs 
trust,  affection,  tvorshij).  Trust.  It  is  the  necessary 
counterpart  of  Jesus  only  in  the  saving  of  our  souls. 
If  he  is  alone  in  our  salvation,  he  must  needs  be  alone  in 
our  trust  for  it.  I  well  know,  indeed,  that  this  were  but 
palpable  blasphemy,  if  the  Socinians  were  right,  that 
Jesus  is  a  mere  creature,  for,  "cursed  is  the  man  that 
trusteth  in  man,  and  maketli  flesh  his  arm,  and  whose 
heart  cleparteth  from  the  Lord."  But  among  the  endless 
proofs  that  Jesus  is  the  living  God-man,  this  is  one, 
that  we  are  everywhere  bidden  commit  this  blasphemy, 
if  blasphemy  it  were — in  the  Old  Testament,  "Kiss 
the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the  way, 
when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a  little:  blessed  are  all 
they  that  put  their  trust  in  him."  And  in  the  New, 
"  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved" — "I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am 
persuaded  that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have 
committed  unto  him  against  that  day."  And  in  our 
heart's  affection, — Jesus  only  in  our  affection,  love.  For 
it  is  husband  and  wife.  No  room  for  a  divided  affection 
here.  "  He  that  hath  the  Bride  is  the  Bridegroom." 
"  He  that  loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  me,  is  not 
worthy  of  me."    And  in  our  heart's  worshi]3 — Jesus  only, 


JESUS  ONLY.  1  09 

as  in  our  trust  and  our  afTcction,  so  also  in  our  heart's 
worship.  Indeed,  the  same  apostate  Churcli  that  makes 
Mary  a  co-Saviour  with  Jesus,  makes  lier  also,  and  un- 
avoidably, a  joint  object  of  worsliip  with  him.  But  it 
is  just  another  blaspllom3^  It  is  Antichrist.  This  is 
Christianity,  *'Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us 
from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings 
and  priests  unto  God  and  his  Father,  to  him  be  glory  and 
dominion  for  ever  and  ever !  " 

5.  Fifthl}^  I  said,  Jesus  only  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death.  Methinks  it  is  peculiarly  affecting  here.  For,  very 
much  as  Moses  and  Elias  were  no  more  with  the  discij^les 
in  the  hour  of  their  deepest  weakness  and  fear,  so  in  this 
valley  none  can  be  with  us — no  Moses  nor  Elias, — no 
minister, — no  friend,  relative,  however  dear.  It  must 
be  a  frightful  solitude  here  without  Jesus  only.  Happy, 
thrice  liappy,  if  here  it  shall  be  with  us  as  Mark  speaks, 
in  his  parallel  words  to  the  text,  "Suddenly,  when  they 
had  looked  round  about,  they  saw  no  man  any  more,  save 
Jesus  only  with  themselves." 

6.  Once  more  I  said,  Jesus  only  in  the  everlasting  llesscd- 
ness  and  glory  of  heaven.  0  yes,  Jesus  only  our  way 
to  heaven — but  our  heaven  also  itself, — the  heaven  of 
our  heaven!  "To  depart,  and  be  Avith  Christ,"  writes 
Paul — "  Absent  from  the  body,  present  with  the  Lord." 
"  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  liast  given  mo 
be  with  mo  where  I  am  ;  that  tliey  may  behold  my  glory." 
They  often  ask,  anxiously,  shall  we  know  our  friends  in 
heaven?  I  have  no  doubt  that  we  shall.  Moses  and  Elias 
had  not  lost  their  individuality,  it  seems,  in  glory.  But 
I  suspect  that  in  the  anxiety  with  whicli  the  question  is 
often  asked,  there  is  too  much  of  Peter's  "  Tlireo  taber- 
nacles ;  one  for  thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for 
Elias."  Oh,  it  will  not  then  be — one  for  thee,  and  one 
for  wife,  and  one  for  daughter,  but,  "  Whom  liave  I  in 
heaven  but  Tlcee  5""     Then  the  text  will  have  found  a  new 


140  JESUS  ONLY. 

and  very  glorious  meaning  and  application,  **  When  they 
had  lifted  up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  man,  save  Jesus 
only." 

Three  words,  and  I  have  done. 

(1.)  First,  see  why  it  is  that  so  very  much  is  made 
in  Scripture  of  believing, — of  faith.  It  is  not  for  any 
peculiar  excellence  in  faith,  as  it  is  our  act.  But 
faith  is  the  counterpart  of  **  Jesus  only."  Faith,  in  its 
distinctive  nature,  answers  to  "Jesus  only," — is  the 
empty  hand  wherewith  we  receive,  the  eye  with  which 
we  behold,  *'  Jesus  only." 

2.  And  thus,  second,  see  what  an  emphasis  the  whole 
subject  gives  to  those  words  of  Scripture,  *'Shut  up  unto 
the  faith  " — "  How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great 
salvation  ? "  For  there  are  not  two  Saviours.  How 
shall  we,  can  we,  escape,  if  we  miss  *' Jesus  only" — 
who  also  is  alone  just  because  he  is  so  glorious,  all-suffi- 
cient ?  *'  How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great 
salvation  ?  "     ''  Shut  up  unto  the  faith  "  ! 

3.  Finally,  believers  in  Jesus,  seek  to  have  this  word 
graven  on  your  inmost  hearts,  "Jesus  only  " — only  in  the 
saving  of  our  souls ;  only  in  all  the  Scriptures  ;  only  in 
the  ministry  and  preaching  of  the  word ;  only  in  our 
heart's  trust,  affection,  worship ;  only  in  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death  ;  only  in  the  everlasting  blessedness  and 
glory  of  heaven  I 

*'  Lord,  I  believe  thou  hast  prepared 
(Unworthy  though  I  be), 
For  me  a  blood-bought  free  reward, 
A  golden  harp  for  me  ! 

'Tis  strung,  and  tuned  for  endless  years, 

And  form'd  by  power  divine. 
To  sound  in  God  the  Father's  ears 

No  other  name  but  Thine." 

Jesus  only  !  Jesus  only  ! 


XI. 

YOUTH  RENEWED. 

"  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul;  and  all  that  is  within 
me,  bless  his  hohj  vamc.  BUss  the  Lord,  0  my  soul, 
and  forget  not  all  his  benefits :  who  forgiveth  all  thine 
iniquities  ;  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases  ;  who  redeemeth 
thy  life  from  destruction  ;  who  crowneth  thee  with 
loving-kindness  and  tender  mercies;  who  satisfieth  thy 
mouth  with  good  things ;  so  that  thy  youth  is  reneioed 
like  the  eagle' s."— Vs.  ciii.  1-5.  Text—"  Thy  youth  is 
renewed  like  the  eagle' s.^'* 

Is  David  singing  there  of  a  renovation,  in  his  later 
years,  of  his  youthful  bodily  health  and  vigour, — of  a 
renewing  of  his  youth  physically  in  his  older  age?  I  am 
thoroughly  persuaded  that  he  is  not ;  but  that  he  sings  of 
something  altogether  different,  and  unspeakably  more 
excellent.  For,  in  the  first  place,  there  really  is  no  such 
thing  as  a  man's  renewing  his  youth  physically  in  his  later 
years.  No  doubt  we  sometimes,  in  a  kind  of  courteous 
pleasantry,  say  to  one  advanced  in  life  whom  we  perceive 
to  be  looking  unusually  fresh  and  well,  You  are  quite 
renewing  your  youth.       But  the  kind  pleasantry  is  very 

•There  is  nothing  in  the  Hebrew  for  the  previous  "so  that." 
It  is  simply,  "Who  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities  ;  who  healeth  all  thy 
diseases  ;  who  redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruction  ;  who  crowneth 
thee  with  loving-kindness  and  tender  mercies ;  who  satisfieth  thy 
mouth  with  good  things " — then  the  text,  which  I  regard  as  the 
culminating,  crowning,  summing  up,  of  all  the  previous  benefits 
together — "  thy  youth  is  renewed  like  the  eagle's." 


142  YOUTH  RENEWED. 

well  Tinderstood  on  both  sides.  No  sane  person  in  ad- 
vanced 3^ears  would  dream  of  writing  gravely  of  himself, 
however  hale  and  fresh,  My  youth  is  renewed  like  the 
eagle's  !  Ah,  these  white  hairs  are  never  to  grow  black 
again.  Yery  surely — unless,  indeed,  death  come  in  earlier 
to  stay  the  advance — infancy  passes  into  childhood,  child- 
hood into  youth,  youth  into  manhood,  manhood  into  age, 
and  age,  as  to  the  body  at  least,  into  the  grave — **The 
dsLYS  of  our  years  are  threescore  years  and  ten ;  and  if  by 
reason  of  strength  they  be  fourscore  years,  yet  is  their 
strength  labour  and  sorrow;  for  it  is  soon  cut  off,  and 
we  fly  away." 

But  further,  the  supposition  of  any  reference  here  to 
the  renewing  of  youth  physically  in  later  years,  is  nega- 
tived emphatically  by  David's  own  history.  When  he 
was  passing  out  of  youth  into  early  manhood,  we  find  him 
described  as  ''ruddy,  and  withal  of  a  beautiful  counte- 
nance, and  goodly  to  louk  to."  But  in  his  later  years,  it 
appears  from  many  of  his  psalms  that  the  Lord  had  been 
pleased  to  visit  him  with  manifold  bodily  infirmities. 
After  his  mournful,  mournful,  sin  in  the  matter  of  Uriah 
the  Hittite,  about  twenty  years  before  his  death,  we  find 
him  writing  many  such  words  as  these — ''My  loins  are 
filled  with  a  loathsome  disease ;  and  there  is  no  soundness 
in  my  flesh."  "When  thou  with  rebukes  dost  correct 
man  for  iniquit}^  thou  makest  his  beauty  to  consume 
away  like  a  moth."  "  Eemove  thy  stroke  away  from  me ; 
I  am  consumed  by  the  blow  of  thine  hand."  Nor  does  he 
appear  to  have  ever  recovered  from  the  efi'ects  of  these 
maladies ;  so  that  he  became,  in  fact,  a  man  prematurely 
old.  One  reading  the  history  of  his  last  days,  might 
fancy  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  at  least  eighty.  In 
reality,  he  died  but  two  or  three  years  older  than  I 
now  am, — died  at  the  age  of  seventy — far  from  having 
renewed  his  youth  phj^sically  in  his  later  years. 

But  perhaps  the  most  decisive  evidence  of  all  as  to  the 


YOUTH  REXEWED.  \1'6 

moaning  of  the  text  is  its  own  language,  ''Tliy  youth" 
— -whose  youth?  David  is  speaking  to  his  soul — "thy 
youth,"  my  soul,  **is  renewed  like  the  eagle's."  No 
doubt,  tho  **  soul"  is  frequently  used  in  Hebrew  for  the 
animal  life,  as  in  that  expression,  "Thou  hast  brought 
up  my  soul  from  the  grave."  But  assuredly  it  is  not  so 
used  here.  Observe  the  opening  words  of  the  psalm, 
"Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul" — certainly  that  is  not  tho 
animal  life,  but  the  soul,  as  we  usually  speak — "  and  all 
that  is  within  me," — every  mental  power  and  faculty, — 
understanding,  will,  memory,  heart,  affections, — "bless 
his  holy  name.  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul,  and  forget  not 
all  his  benefits :  who  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities ;  who 
healeth  all  thy  diseases" — thy  profound  corruptions,  my 
soul;  "who  redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruction;  who 
crowneth  thee  with  loving-kindness  and  tender  mercies ; 
who  satisfieth  thy  mouth  with  good  things ;  ilif/  youth  is 
renewed  like  the  eagWs.^^  Therefore  the  question  arises. 
What,  more  specifically,  is  that  renewing  of  his  soul's 
youth  of  which  David  speaks,  and  of  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  by  his  pen  speaks  to  us,  in  these  remarkable  words, 
"  Thy  3'outh  is  renewed  like  the  eagle's  "  ? — as  to  which 
last  figure,  "like  the  eagles,"  it  may  suflice  to  say  that 
the  allusion  is  plainly  enough  to  the  known  longevity,  and 
amazing  strength,  of  this  noble  bird,  which,  besides  the 
power  common  to  it  with  other  birds  of  renewing  its 
whole  plumage  periodically,  is  known  to  live  on  some- 
times for  a  century,  retaining  the  while,  I  presume, 
that  might  of  wing,  and  wonderful  clearness  and  keenness 
of  vision,  of  which  God  himself  says  in  the  book  of  Job, 
"Doth  the  eagle  mount  up  at  thy  command,  and  make 
her  nest  on  high  ?  She  dwelloth  and  abideth  on  the  rock, 
upon  tho  crag  of  the  rock,  and  the  strong  jdace.  From 
thence  she  sceketh  the  prey,  and  her  eyes  behold  afar  off." 

I.  Well;  I  answer  to  our  question  that,  first,  and  most 


144  YOUTH  KENE WED . 

fundamentally,  the  youtli  of  the  soul  of  God's  child 
M^as  renewed  gloriously,  and  he  entered  on  a  new 
and  imperishable  life,  in  his  new  birth, — in  the  hour  of 
that  entire  change  of  state  and  of  character,  of  which 
Jesus  said  to  Nicodemus,  '*  Except  a  man  be  born  again, 
he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  Does  not  David 
point  to  this  grand  radical  change  in  the  three  first  of 
tlie  benefitT  for  which  here  he  summons  his  soul  to  giv^e 
earnest  thanks  to  the  Lord,  saying,  "Who  forgiveth  all 
thine  iniquities,  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases,  who  re- 
deemeth  thy  life  from  destruction"  ?  I  will  return  to 
that  presently.  But  let  me  first  remind  you  how  Nico- 
demus answered  our  Lord,  "How  can  a  man  be  born 
when  he  is  old  ?  can  he  enter  the  second  time  into  his 
mother's  womb  and  be  born  ? "  committing  a  mistake 
not  unlike  that  which  you  should  make  in  supposing 
David  to  speak  here  of  the  renewing  of  his  3^outh 
physically.  Jesus  sets  him  right,  saying,  "  Yerily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  thee,  except  a  man  bo  born  of  water  and  of 
the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  " 
— as  if  he  had  said,  It  is  of  the  second  birth  of  the  soul 
I  speak  to  thee,  even  as  God  long  ago  spake  by  the 
prophets,  saying,  "  I  will  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you, 
and  ye  shall  be  clean  ;  from  all  j^our  filthiness,  and  from 
all  your  idols,  will  I  cleanse  you.  A  new  heart  also  will 
I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you  ;  and  I 
will  take  away  the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I 
will  give  3^ou  an  heart  of  flesh.  And  I  will  put  my 
Spirit  within  you,  and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes, 
and  ye  shall  keep  my  judgments  and  do  them."  Brethren, 
would  you  see  what  that  renewed  youth  is  of  which  the  text 
speaks  ?  Behold  it  there,  "  If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is 
a  new  creature :  old  things  are  passed  aw^ay ;  behold  all 
things  are  become  new."  Or,  see  it  there,  "  Lie  not  one 
to  another,  seeing  that  ye  have  put  ofl"  the  old  man  with 
his  deeds ;    and  have  put  on  the  new  man,  "which,  is 


YOUTH  TvENEWED.  145 

renewed  in  knowledge  after  tlio  image  of  liiui  that  created 
him."  Ah,  that  is  youth  renewed  !  Or,  see  it  there, 
''As  newborn  babes — laying  aside  all  malice,  and  all 
guile,  and  hypocrisies,  and  envies,  and  all  evil  speakings, 
as  newborn  babes,  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word, 
that  ye  may  grow  thereby  " — Eenewcd  youth  ! 

I  said  that  David  points  to  this  fundamental  change, 
in  the  first  three  of  the  benefits  here,  ''Who  forgiveth 
all  thine  iniquities  j  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases" — 
them  all,  my  soul — not  only  thy  manifold  guilt  by  the 
medicine  of  the  blood,  but  thy  terrible  corruptions  also,  by 
the  clean  water  of  the  Spirit's  grace, — "the  washing  of 
regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Then 
he  combines  both  benefits  in  one,  when  he  adds,  "  who 
redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruction."  0  yes,  the  new 
life  is  life  out  of  death  more  ways  than  one, — not  only 
out  of  destruction,  ruin,  but  out  of  the  death  of  Jesus,  the 
Substitute,  and  by  union  to  Him  and  to  it — as  Paul 
speaks,  "Our  old  man  is  crucified  with  him;"  "buried 
with  him  into  death ;  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up 
from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we 
also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life."  Beloved,  he  who 
has  been  thus  forgiven  and  regenerated, — "washed,  and 
sanctified,  and  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God," — is  like  Namaan,  the 
Syrian  leper,  of  whom  it  is  written  that,  after  he  had 
been  persuaded  to  wash  seven  times  in  the  Jordan  at 
God's  command,  "his  flesh  came  again  as  the  flesh  of  a 
little  child,  and  he  was  clean;"  or  like  that  penitent  in 
the  book  of  Job,  of  whom,  when  God  had  said  of  him, 
"Deliver  him  from  going  down  to  the  pit,  I  have  found 
a  ransom,"  it  is  added,  "  his  flesh  shall  be  fresher  than 
a  child's  ;  he  shall  return  to  the  days  of  his  youth."  0 
most  blessed  renewing  of  youth  this,  without  which,  what 
were  any  mere  renewing  of  youth  physically,  even  were 
it  a  thing  possible  ? — as  one  sings. 


146  TOTJTn  RENEWED. 

"  Would  you  be  young  again  ?  so  would  not  I." 
Blessed  renewing  of  youth,  this,  of  which  our  Lord  speaks 
to  us  as  often  as  he  finds  the  type  of  his  disciple  in  the 
little  child !  Most  blessed  renewing  this  of  youth,  wherein 
a  sinner,  throwing  off  at  once  the  whole  load  of  the  '*  dead 
works  "  and  iniquities  of  a  lifetime,  returns  back  to  some- 
what of  the  very  gladness,  and  innocence,  and  guilelessness, 
of  childhood  !  And  that  is  the  meaning  of  the  exhortation, 
"  Lie  not  one  to  another,  seeing  ye*  have  put  off  the  old 
man  with  his  deeds,  and  have  put  on  the  new  man  :  "  and 
again,  *'  Laying  aside  all  malice,  and  all  guile,  and 
hypocrisies" — ah,  children  ^^wwo^  be  hypocrites  ! — "and 
envies,  and  all  evil  speakings,  as  newborn  babes,  desire 
the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  ye  may  grow  thereby." 
Let  me  only  add  here,  that  God  gave  a  certain  remark- 
able type  of  all  this  in  the  history  of  his  ancient  people. 
YoY  you  recollect  that,  when  he  was  about  to  "bear 
them  as  on  eagles  wings" — so  he  speaks — forth  from  the 
captivity  of  Egypt,  where  they  had  grown  as  it  were 
old,  and  worn,  and  wasted,  with  the  rigours  of  their  in- 
tolerable bondage,  he  spake  to  Moses  and  Aaron,  saying, 
"  This  month  shall  be  unto  you  the  beginning  of  months  ; 
it  shall  be  the  first  month  of  the  year  to  you."  Yes,  the 
sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  the  lamb  on  their  houses  that 
night,  and  the  bringing  of  them  forth  with  mighty  hand 
out  of  Egypt,  was  the  beginning  of  their  whole  life  as  a 
people.  And  so  afterwards  we  find  such  expressions  as 
that,  "  I  remember  thee,  the  kindness  of  thy  youth,  the 
love  of  thine  espousals,  when  thou  wentest  after  me  in 
the  wilderness :  "  and  again,  "  She  shall  sing  there  as  in 
the  days  of  her  youth,  and  as  in  the  day  when  she  came 
up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 

11.  But,  secondly,  there  is  oftentimes  a  further,  most 
blessed  renewing  of  the  soul's  youth  of  God's  child — 
some  call  it  a  second  conversion,  though  the  expression 


YOUTH  KENEWED.  IH 

requires  to  be  used  cautiously — when,  after  a  period  of 
darkness,  and  distance,  and  spiritual  decay,  with,  it  may 
be,  the  commission  of  positive  sin,  God  revisits  his  child 
with  his  pardoning  and  sanctifying  mercy,  brings  him  to 
deep  repentance,  and  restores  to  him  the  purity  and  the 
joy  of  his  salvation.  Thus  was  it  eminently  in  the  case  of 
David,  when,  after  that  mournful  sin  to  which  I  have  had 
occasion  to  allude,  he  was  fii-st  of  all  brought  to  cry  out 
of  the  depths,  "Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  bo 
clean ;  wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow. 
Make  me  to  hear  joy  and  gladness  ;  that  the  bones  which 
thou  hast  broken  may  rejoice.  Hide  thy  face  from  my 
sins,  and  blot  out  all  mine  iniquities.  Create  in  me 
a  clean  heart,  0  God ;  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within 
me.  Eestore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation  " — and  by 
and  by  was  brought  to  sing  in  the  language  of  another 
psalm,  "  Blessed  is  he  whose  transgression  is  forgiven, 
whose  sin  is  covered.  .  .  .  When  I  kept  silence,  my  bones 
waxed  old,  through  my  roaring  all  the  day  long  :  for  day 
and  night  thy  hand  was  heavy  upon  me ;  my  moisture  was 
turned  into  the  drought  of  summer.  I  acknowledged  my 
sin  unto  thee,  and  mine  iniquity  have  I  not  hid.  I  said, 
I  will  confess  my  transgressions  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  thou 
forgavest  the  iniquity  of  my  sin.  Thou  art  my  hiding- 
place  ;  thou  shalt  preserve  me  from  trouble ;  thou  shalt 
compass  me  about  with  songs  of  deliverance  " — Thy  youth, 
my  soul,  is  renewed  lil-e  the  eaglets.  Thus  it  was  with  the 
godly  Asaph,  when,  after  his  period  of  long,  and  deep, 
and  dark,  temptation,  he  was  made  to  sing,  "So  foolish 
was  I,  and  ignorant ;  I  was  as  a  beast  before  thee.  Never- 
theless I  am  continually  with  thee;  thou  hast  holden 
me  by  my  right  hand.  Thou  shalt  guide  me  with  thy 
counsel,  and  afterward  receive  me  to  glory" — Thy  youth 
is  renewed  like  the  eagle's.  Thus  was  it  with  Peter,  after 
his  fearful,  and  to  all  human  appearance  fatal,  denial  of 
the  Master  with  oaths  in  the  high  priest's  palace,  when 


148  YOUTH  EENLWED. 

Jesus  made  good  to  him  tlie  gracious  words,  ''I  have 
prayed  for  thee  that  thy  faith  fail  not ;  and  when  thou  art 
converted  "  (restored),  "  strengthen  thy  brethren."  *'  The 
Lord  turned  and  looked  upon  Peter.  And  Peter  re- 
membered the  word  of  the  Lord,  how  he  had  said  unto 
him,  Before  the  cock  crow,  thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice. 
And  he  went  out  and  wept  bitterly."  How  does  Peter 
come  forth  by  and  by,  with  his  youth  renewed  like  the 
eagle's,  when  at  Pentecost  he  says  before  the  assembled 
multitude,  "  Let  all  the  house  of  Israel  know  assuredly, 
that  God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus  whom  ye  have 
crucified,  both  Lord  and  Christ ! "  And  soon  after  we 
read,  *' When  they  saw  the  boldness  of  Peter  and  John, 
and  perceived  that  they  were  unlearned  and  ignorant 
men,  they  marvelled  ;  and  they  took  knowledge  of 
them,  that  they  had  been  with  Jesus."  Ah,  are  there 
none  in  this  assembly  who  know  by  painful,  and  yet 
blessed,  experience  what  that  means,  *'  Behold,  I  will 
hedge  up  thy  way  with  thorns,  and  make  a  wall,  that  she 
shall  not  find  her  paths.  And  she  shall  follow  after  her 
lovers,  but  she  shall  not  overtake  them ;  and  she  shall 
seek  them,  but  shall  not  find  them  :  then  shall  she  say,  I 
will  go  and  return  to  my  first  husband ;  for  then  was  it 
better  with  me  than  now.  .  .  .  Behold,  I  will  allure 
her,  and  bring  her  into  the  wilderness,  and  speak 
comfortably  unto  her.  And  I  will  give  her  her  vineyards 
from  thence,  and  the  valley  of  Achor  for  a  door  of  hope  : 
and  she  shall  sing  there,  as  in  the  days  of  her  youth,  and 
as  in  the  day  when  she  came  up  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt?" 

III.  But,  thirdly,  there  is  what  I  might  call  a  more 
normal  and  progressive  rejuvenescence, — renewal  of  the 
soul's  youth  of  the  child  of  God, — whichlamsatisfiedDavid 
has  in  his  eye  here,  and  which  Paul  divinely  exemplifies 
for  us  in  his  precious  words,  "For  which  cause  we  faint 


YOrTII  RENEWED.  HO 

not ;  but  though  our  outward  man  perish,  yet  the  inward 
man  is  renewed  day  by  day  " — see  how  far  the  renewal 
is  from  depending  on  mere  bodily  vigour,  **  though  our 
outward  man  perish,  yet  the  inward  man  is  renewed  day 
by  day.  For  our  light  affliction  which  is  but  for  a  moment, 
worketh  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight 
of  glory;  while  we  look  " — ah,  the  eagle's  piercing  gaze, — 
how  she  cleaves  the  very  sky,  and  looks  on  the  blazing  sun ! 
— "  while  we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at 
the  things  which  are  not  seen :  for  the  things  which  are 
seen  are  temporal ;  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are 
eternal."  Or,  see  this  normal  and  progressive  renewal  of 
the  soul's  youth  in  Isaiah's  sublime  words,  ''Even  the 
youtlis  shall  faint  and  be  weary,  and  the  young  men  shall 
utterly  fall :  but  they  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew 
their  strength  " — see  there  why  I  have  called  the  renewal 
normal,  or  according  to  a  fixed  blessed  rule,  "they  that 
wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength;  they 
shall  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles;  they  shall  run, 
and  not  be  weary;  and  they  shall  walk,  and  not  faint." 
The  rather  I  have  called  it  normal  and  progressive,  be- 
cause it  is  held  forth  in  Scripture,  not  as  privilege  only, 
but  as  commanded  duty  also,  thus,  "Be  not  conformed  to 
this  world ;  but  be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your 
mind:"  and  again,  "That  ye  put  off,  concerning  the 
former  conversation,  the  old  man,  which  is  corrupt  accord- 
ing to  the  deceitful  lusts ;  and  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of 
your  mind  ;  and  that  ye  put  on  the  new  man,  which  after 
God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness." 

I  said  that  David  points  to  the  grand  radical  change  of 
state  and  of  character  in  the  three  first  of  his  benefits,  "Who 
forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities ;  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases; 
who  redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruction."  But  now 
observe  the  two  that  follow,  **  Who  crowneth  thee  with 
loving-kindness  and  tender  mercies;  who  satisfieth  thy 
mouth  with  good  things."     "  Crowneth  thee  " — a  remark- 


150  YOUTH  RENEWED. 

able  word  in  the   original,   signifying  to   surround   on 
every  side   as   with   a    crown  —  "  who   crowneth    thee 
with  loving-kindness   and    tender    mercies."      Oh,    this 
is   God's  filling  his   child   with   all  peace    and    joy  in 
believing,    that   he   may   abound   in   hope   through    the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     It  is  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness so  arisen  on  his  soul  with  healing  in  his  wings,  as  to 
illumine  his  whole  path,  and  turn  even  common  mercies 
into  so  many  tokens  of  covenant  love.     It  is  that  voice 
in  the  Song,   "  He  brought  me  to  the  banqueting  house, 
and  his  banner  over  me  was  love.      I  sat  down  under 
his   shadow  with  great  delight,  and  his  fruit  was  sweet 
to  my  taste" — "Who  crowneth  thee  with  loving-kind- 
ness and   tender   mercies ;   who  satisjieth   thy  mouth  with 
good  things P     Of  course  the  figure  there  is  a  rich  and 
sumptuous  feast   of  earth.     But   the   reference   is   to   a 
feast  unspeakably  different — even  that  one,  ''Behold,  God 
is  my  salvation,  I  will  trust,  and  not  be  afraid ;  for  the 
Lord  Jehovah  is  my  strength  and  my  song ;  he  also  is 
become  my  salvation."     "  Open  thy  mouth  wide,  and  I 
will  fiU  it."     "Delight  thyself  in  the  Lord;  and  he  shall 
give  thee  the  desires  of  thine  heart."     "Whatsoever  ye 
shall  ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do,  that  the  Father  may 
be  glorified  in  the  Son.     If  j^e  shall  ask  anything  in  my 
name,  I   will  do  it" — "Who  satisfieth  thy  mouth  with 
good  things  ;    thy  youth  is  renewed  lil;e   the   eagle' s?''      I 
am  the  more  persuaded  that  David  has  this  progressive 
renewal  of  youth  in  his  eye,  because  the  verb  he  uses  here, 
"  renewed,"  is  in  a  kind  of  future  tense,  having  the  force 
of  a  continued  present — or  rather,  past,  present,  and  future, 
all  in  one — as  if  it  were  said.  Thy  youth,  my  soul,  has 
been,  is  being,  and  yet  more  and  more  shall  be,  renewed 
like  the  eagle's !     But  that  runs  into   one   other  great 
particular. 

lY.  I  observe,  once  more,  that  the  youth  of  the  soul  of 


YOUTH  llENEWED.  lol 

God's  cliild  comes  to  be  renewed,  strange  to  sa}' !  in  the 
highest  of  all  ways,  in  his  death, — in  that  which,  to  the 
eye  of  sense,  might  seem  to  be  the  end  and  wreck  of 
all.  Oftentimes  there  are  marvellous  foretastes  and  anti- 
cipations of  this  in  the  closing  hours.  Thus,  of  David  it  is 
written,  "These  be  the  last  words  of  David.  David  the 
son  of  Jesse  said,  and  the  man  who  was  raised  up  on 
high,  the  anointed  of  the  God  of  Jacob,  and  the  sweet 
psalmist  of  Israel,  said.  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  spake  by 
me,  and  his  word  was  in  my  tongue.  The  God  of  Israel 
said,  the  Hock  of  Israel  spake  to  me,  He  that  ruleth  over 
men," — or  rather,  for  it  is  manifestly  a  prediction  of 
Messiah,  "  The  Euler  over  men  is  a  righteous  one,  ruling 
in  the  fear  of  God.  And  he  shall  be  as  the  light  of  the 
morning  when  the  sun  riseth,  even  a  morning  without 
clouds ;  as  the  tender  grass  springing  out  of  the  earth  by 
clear  shining  after  rain.  Although  my  house  be  not  so 
with  God ;  yet  he  hath  made  with  me  an  everlasting 
covenant,  ordered  in  all  things  and  sure."  One  very 
near  and  dear  to  myself,  who  was  taken  home  in  early  life, 
when  told  that  her  disease  was  fatal,  said  to  her  mother 
— "But  I  am  only  beginning  to  live!  "  A  few  months 
ago  I  received  a  letter  from  a  lady  in  London,  a  sister  of 
the  late  distinguished  and  excellent  Sir  Donald  M'Leod, 
whose  body,  as  you  will  recollect,  in  the  act  of  hastily 
entering  a  carriage  of  the  Metropolitan  Railway,  became 
instantaneously  a  wreck  and  ruin.  She  says,  "His  song  of 
praise  began  on  this  side  of  the  river.  His  last  words  were, 
*  Praised  be  thy  holy  name  for  ever  and  ever ! '"  Oh,  if  such 
the  anticipation,  what  the  realisation — "  absent  from  the 
body,  present  with  the  Lord  :  "  "  Father,  I  will  that  they 
also  whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am  • 
that  they  may  behold  my  glory!  " — truly,  j-outh  renewed 
like  the  eagle's.  Mothinks  it  is  the  fabled  phoenix  be- 
come a  grand  reality — the  bird  of  which  they  dreamed 
that,  after  having  been  consumed  in  a  funeral  pile  of  its 


152  YOUTH  RENEWED. 

own  kindling,  it  revived  out  of  its  ashes  in  tlie  fresliness 
of  immortal  youth.  "To  day,"  said  Jesus  to  the  thief 
on  the  cross,  ''shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise."  Oh, 
not  only  is  not  the  new  life  destroj^ed  in  death ;  then  for 
the  first  time  it  reaches  its  highest  fulness.  Nay,  not 
quite  its  highest.  For  the  youth  of  God's  child  shall  be 
finally  and  fully  renewed  only  in  the  morning  of  the 
resurrection,  when  "this  corruptible  shall  put  on  incor- 
ruption,  and  this  mortal  shall  put  on  immortality."  And 
still  is  it  life  out  of  death — as  Paul  speaks,  "it  is  sown — 
that  which  thou  so  west  is  not  quickened  except  it  die  " — 
"  it  is  sown  in  corruption  ;  it  is  raised  in  incorruption  :  it  is 
sown  in  dishonour ;  it  is  raised  in  glory  :  it  is  sown  in 
weakness;  it  is  raised  in  power."  "  Our  conversation  is 
in  heaven ;  from  whence  also  we  look  for  the  Saviour,  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ :  who  shall  change  our  vile  body,  that 
it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his  glorious  body,  according 
to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subdue  all 
things  unto  himself." 

Dear  child  of  God,  your  best  things  are  all  before  you. 
Por  you  can  say,  "  As  for  me,  I  will  behold  thy  face  in 
righteousness ;  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  with  thy 
likeness."  Only  remember  well  the  normal,  progressive, 
rejuvenescence,  and  the  rule  of  it,  "  They  that  wait  upon 
the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength."  Keep  near,  I  beseech 
you,  to  the  Lord  in  prayer,  with  thanksgiving.  Let  your 
spirit  be,  "Entreat  me  not  to  leave  thee,  or  to  return 
from  following  after  thee."  "  My  soul  followeth  hard  after 
thee ;  thy  right  hand  upholdeth  me."  "  Set  me  as  a  seal 
upon  thine  heart,  as  a  seal  upon  thine  arm :  for  love  is 
strong  as  death  ;  jealousy  is  cruel  as  the  grave."  "I  will 
not  let  thee  go,  except  thou  bless  me."  "Wait  on  the 
Lord ;  be  of  good  courage,  and  he  shall  strengthen  thine 
heart :  wait,  I  say,  on  the  Lord." 

But  alas  for  the  mournful  contrast  of  the  men  of  this 
world,  who  have  their  portion  in  this  life,  and  all  whose 


YOUTH  KEN E WED.  1<j3 

best  tilings  are  past  !  How  peculiarly  mournful  is  old 
age  out  of  Christ,  and  without  the  hope  of  any  renewing 
of  youth  for  ever !  And  yet,  it  need  not  be  so  even  in  old 
age.  I  have  before  told  you  of  the  late  eminent  Lord 
Chancellor  Lj-ndliurst,  who,  at  the  age  of  ninety,  was 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Saviour,  and,  among 
otlier  things,  said,  "  I  used  never  to  be  able  to  understand 
what  these  good  people  meant,  when  they  talked  so  much 
of  the  Mood,  the  hlood.  But  I  understand  it  now — it's 
just  Substitution  !  "  When  asked  by  Lady  Lj^ndhurst 
very  near  his  end,  "Are  you  happy?"  he  answered, 
"  Supremely  " — ah,  j-outli  renewed  at  ninety, — renewed 
like  the  eagle's ! 

Dear  children  before  me,  would  you  be  alwaj's  young  ? 
Give  your  heart  to  -Jesus  to  make  it  new,  and  moie 
and  more  new.  Let  j'our  praj-er  be,  "  0  satisfy  us 
early  with  thy  mercy,  that  we  may  rejoice  and  be  glad 
all  our  days."  So  shall  you  know  what  that  beautiful 
word  means,  "  Even  the  youths  shall  faint  and  be  wearv, 
and  the  young  men  shall  utterly  fall :  but  they  that  wait 
upon  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength;  they  shall 
mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles  ;  they  shall  run,  and  not 
be  weary;  and  they  shall  walk,  and  not  faint." 


XII. 

THE  LOED  OUR  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

"  This  is   Jiis  name  ivherehy  he  shall  be  called,  The 
Lord  our  EiCxHteousness."— Jer.  xxiii.  6. 

In  the  opening  verses  of  the  chapter  Grod  had  pro- 
nounced a  woe  on  nnfaithful  pastors — referring  probably 
to  rulers  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical — who  had  destroyed 
and  scattered  the  sheep  of  his  pasture.  He  had  promised 
to  gather  his  flock  in  due  time  together,  and  set  up  faith- 
ful shepherds  over  them.  Then  he  passes,  at  the  fifth 
verse,  by  a  natui-al  and  beautiful  transition,  to  that 
prediction  of  Messiah,  the  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep, — 
King  and  Priest  of  his  Church  both, — of  which  the  text 
forms  a  part,  "Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord, 
that  I  will  raise  unto  David  a  righteous  Branch,  and  a 
King  shall  reign  and  prosper,  and  shall  execute  judgment 
and  justice  in  the  earth.  In  his  days  Judali  shall  be 
saved,  and  Israel  shall  dwell  safely;  and  this  is  his 
name  whereby  he  shall  be  called,  the  Lord  (Jehovah)  our 
Righteousness." 

You  will  easily  perceive  that,  in  this  great  title  of 
Messiah,  there  is  a  party  introduced  as  if  speaking, 
and  giving  it  to  him,  ''  our," — ''  The  Lord  our  Eighteous- 
ness."  Beyond  doubt,  this  party  is  the  ransomed 
Church  of  God, — the  true  Israel  and  Judah, — the 
body  of  Christ,  consisting  of  believers  of  aU  countries 
and  ages  of  the  world.     Of  the  members  of  this  body 


THE  LORD  OUR  RIGHTEOUSXES?.  155 

it  is  in  effect  declared  that  they  shall  1)0  found  address- 
ing Christ — humbly,  believingly,  jo^^full}^ — by  the  name, 
*'  The  Lord  our  Righteousness."  And  what  I  purpose, 
accordingly,  is  to  inquire  a  little  into  the  leading  thoughts 
and  feelings  which  the  title,  as  thus  given  to  Christ  by  his 
Church,  implies  and  expresses. 

I.  And,  fn-st,  I  remark  that,  wlien  the  people  of 
Christ  address  him  by  this  name,  ''The  Lord  our  Eight- 
eousness,"  it  implies  a  contrite  acknowledgment  that 
they  have  no  righteousness  of  their  own, — that  they 
are  destitute  of  all  personal  righteousness  in  which  to 
appear  before  a  holy  God.  "The  Lord  our  Eigliteous- 
ness,"  they  say,  confessing  in  the  very  utterance  that 
'*  all  their  righteousnesses  are  as  filthy  rags," — that  they 
have  none  in  which  they  can  for  a  moment  venture 
to  appear  before  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  The  more 
narrowly  they  search  the  inspired  Word,  and  view  their 
own  characters  in  the  light  of  it,  the  more  is  this  hum- 
bling conviction  borne  home  on  them.  They  find  the  Lord 
prescribing  to  man  at  the  first  a  perfect  rule  of  righteous- 
ness. They  find  him  pronouncing  his  curse  on  every 
one  who  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  it  requires. 
They  find  him  declaring  that,  in  this  fallen  world,  "  there 
is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one;"  that  ''the  carnal  mind 
is  enmity  against  God;"  that  "as  many  as  are  of  the 
works  of  the  law  are  under  the  curse;"  that  "by  the 
deeds  of  the  law  there  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his 
sight,  for  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin."  Once, 
indeed,  the  people  of  Christ  did  not,  any  more  tlian 
the  world  around  them,  obtain  the  knowledge  of  sin  by 
the  law.  "  Tliey  were  alive,"  as  Paul  writes  of  his 
former  self,  "without  the  law  once."  VAmd  to  the  ex- 
tent and  purity  and  spirituality  of  the  law,  they  fancied 
themselves  in  their  own  righteousness  sufficiently  good 
and  secure.     But    "when  the   commandment  camo "  at 


156  THE  LORD  OUR  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

length  to  them  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  sin  revived,  and  they 
died ;  and  the  commandment  which  was  ordained  to  life, 
they  found  to  be  unto  death."  They  found  that,  while  a 
single  sin  was  sufficient  to  bring  the  curse,  their  entire 
lives  had  been  one  continued  course  of  sin, — of  rebellion. 
They  saw  ihat,  even  since  the  time  of  their  conversion 
to  God — with  some  goodness,  the  fruit  of  his  Spirit, 
there  had  mingled  imperfections  and  defilements  innu- 
merable. And  still,  as  they  continue  to  search  their 
own  hearts, — rise  in  their  thoughts  of  the  breadth  and 
purity  of  the  law,  and  see  its  requirements  reaching  to 
the  most  secret  motives  and  principles  of  action, — they 
find  that  their  very  best  deeds  have  not  only  nothing 
in  them  meriting  heaven,  but  much,  very  much,  deserving 
wrath.  Every  way  the  conviction  is  borne  home  on 
them,  that  they  are  without  a  righteousness  of  their  own 
in  which  to  stand  before  God ;  and  they  give  expression 
to  this  in  effect  when  they  call  Christ  by  the  name,  *'  The 
Lord  our  Righteousness." 

II.  But,  secondly,  I  observe  that,  when  the  people  of 
Christ  give  this  name  to  him,  they  declare  their  solemn 
persuasion  that  they  require  a  righteousness,  though  they 
liave  none  of  their  own,  in  which  to  appear  before  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel ;  they  not  only  confess  their  entire  destitu- 
tion, but  acknowledge  their  indispensable  need,  of  a  true 
and  j)erfect  righteousness,  *'  This  is  his  name  whereby  he 
shall  be  called.  The  Lord  our  Righteousness."  0  yes,  they 
do  not  profess  to  regard  as  superfluous  what  they  have 
found  to  be  wanting.  They  do  not  so  renounce  the  hope 
of  life  by  the  law  as  to  despise  and  trample  on  the  law. 
They  believe  it  to  be  none  the  less  "holy,  and  just,  and 
good,"  that  they  have  fallen  beneath  its  curse.  While 
they  own  themselves  to  have  broken  and  dishonoured 
it,  they  acknowledge  that  kept  it  must  be,  "magnified 
and  made  honourable,"  or  they  must  perish.     The  same 


THE  LORD  OUR  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  157 

Spirit  of  grace  that  lias  ''convinced  them  of  sin,"  "  con- 
vinces them  of  righteousness," — teaches  them  to  know 
that  their  standing  in  need  of  forgiveness  does  not  lay 
God  under  any  obligation  to  bestow  it ;  to  know  that 
mercy  can  never  require  anything  at  his  hand  which 
justice  forbids  ;  to  know  that  justice  does  forbid  par- 
don without  satisfaction, — favour  without  righteousness  ; 
to  know  that  even  mercy  itself,  considered  in  relation  to 
the  whole  scheme  of  things,  requires  that  the  threatenings 
of  truth  be  executed,  and  the  rights  and  claims  of  justice 
respected  and  maintained;  to  know  that  all  the  Divine 
perfections  conspire  in  forbidding  that  that  law  which 
required  a  perfect  righteousness  of  unfallen  man,  shall 
be  lowered  and  set  aside,  to  admit  of  the  sinner's 
acceptance  without  righteousness ;  to  know,  in  a  word, 
that,  if  they  are  to  be  saved,  it  can  only  be  in  some  way 
(if  such  can  by  possibility  be  found)  of  reconciling  and 
harmonizing  the  desires  of  mercy  with  the  demands  of 
justice,  the  integrity  of  the  law  with  the  blessedness 
of  its  transgressor,  his  utter  destitution  of  righteous- 
ness with  his  acceptance  before  God  as  righteous,  and 
capable  of  being  restored  holily  to  the  favour,  and  fel- 
lowship, and  image,  and  everlasting  enjoyment  of  God. 

III.  And  thus,  thirdly,  I  observe  that,  when  the  peoj)le 
of  Christ  address  him  by  this  name,  "  The  Lord  our 
Eighteousness,"  they  express  and  profess  their  faith,  that 
Messiah,  being  in  one  person  God  and  man,  has  brought 
in  a  righteousness  in  their  behalf,  which  is  by  God 
accepted  for  them,  and  imputed  unto  them,  for  their  justi- 
fication— "This  is  his  name  whereby  he  shall  be  called, 
Jehovah  our  Eighteousness."  They  profess  their  faith, 
that  Messiah  is  in  one  person  God  and  man.  As  for 
his  humanity,  it  is  implied  in  the  very  idea  of  his  be- 
coming the  righteousness  of  his  people,  since  a  creature 
alone  is  capable  of  fulfilling  the  righteousness  of  the  law. 


158  THE  LORD  OUE  IIIGIITEOTJSNESS. 

But  the  same  blessed  triiih.  they  find  expressly  in  every 
prophetic  announcement  of  Christ,  from  the  first  promise 
of  the  Seed  of  the  woman  that  should  bruise  the  head  of 
the  serpent,  down  to  the  prediction  which  introduces  the 
text,  "I  will  raise  unto  David  a  righteous  Branch," — 
a  son — even  as  Isaiah  had  written,   '*  There  shall  come 
forth  a  rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a  Branch  shall 
grow  out  of  his  roots."    Well ;  but  of  what  avail  could  be 
the  righteousness  of  a  man,  however  sinless,  for  the  salva- 
tion of  his  fellow  men  ?    To  yield  such  a  righteousness  had 
been  but  his  duty  for  himself — more  than  which  he  could 
not  yield,   nor  less,   without  falling  beneath  the   curse. 
Accordingly,  see  how  the  title  which  God  puts  here  into  the 
mouth  of  the  ransomed  Church,  proclaims  Christ  God  as 
well   as   man,    ''This  is  his  name  whereby  he  shall  be 
called,  Jehovah  our  Eighteousness."     From   the  begin- 
ning   the    Church    knew    sufficiently    this    mystery,    as 
witness  the  words   of  Jacob   on  liis  dying  bed,   "  God, 
before  whom  my  fathers  Abraham  and  Isaac  did  walk, 
the  God  which  fed  me  all  my  life  long  unto  this  day, 
the    Angel" — manifestly  the    same    God — ''which    re- 
deemed me  from  all  evil,  bless  the  lads."     But  as  the 
stream    of    prophecy   widened,    advanced,    and    fell    at 
length  into  the  tide  of  the  gos2)el  revelation,  the  Church 
grew  more  and  more  familiar  with  such  titles  as  "  Em- 
manuel,"  "The  mighty  God,"  "The  fellow  of  the  Lord 
of  hosts,"  "The  first  and  the  last  and  the  living  One," 
"God   manifest   in   the  flesh,"   "God   over   all   blessed 
for  ever."      Nor   has   she  ever  for  a  moment  regarded 
this    as    some    theological    dogma   or    speculation,    but 
has  gloried  in  it  ever  as  a  truth  wherewith  her  dearest 
hopes  and  interests  are  inseparably  bound  up,  "Jehovah 
our  Eighteousness."      As  man,    she   beholds  him   able 
to  suffer ;   as  God,  able  to  save  :    in   his  humanity,  ful- 
filling all  righteousness  ;   by  his  Divinity  rendering  that 
righteousness  available  for  the  lost :  as  man,  made  under 


THE  LOUD  OUn  lUGKTEOUSXESS.  loO 

tliG  law,  obeying  its  precept,  enduring  its  curse  ;  as  God, 
imparting  to  tlie  obedience  and  sacrifice  a  value,  merit, 
sufficiency,  strictly  infinite. 

In  the  counsels  of  eternity, — in  the  everlasting  cove- 
nant,— she  beholds  Jehovah  constituting  our  Lord  Jesus 
the  Head,  Eeprescntativo,  Surety,  of  his  j^coplc — as  it  is 
written,  "I  have  made  a  covenant  with  my  chosen  one." 
"I  have  laid  help  on  one  that  is  mighty."  "By  the 
knowledge  of  him  shall  my  righteous  servant  justify 
many;  for  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities."  She  sees  the 
Son,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  coming  into  our  world;  taking 
our  nature  up  into  his  Divine  Person ;  and  discharging 
in  it  the  entire  debt  of  obedience  and  suffering  due  by  his 
people — "finishing  transgression,  making  an  end  of  sins, 
bringing  in  everlasting  righteousness."  She  sees  the 
Father  "well  pleased  for  his  righteousness'  sake;"  raising 
him  from  the  dead,  in  testimony  of  the  acceptance  of  his 
sacrifice ;  acquitting  and  glorifying  the  Surety,  and  in 
him  the  people  whom  he  represented,  when  their  debt 
was  paid.  In  a  word,  she  beholds  the  Father,  on  his  inter- 
cession within  the  veil,  sending  the  Holy  Spirit  into  their 
hearts,  uniting  them  to  Christ  by  living  faith,  imputing 
his  righteousness  to  them,  setting  them  for  ever  free 
from  the  curse,  accepting  them  in  the  Beloved ^  making 
them  heirs  of  everlasting  salvation  —  as  it  is  written, 
"  lie  hath  made  him  who  knew  no  sin  to  be  sin  for  up, 
that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him." 
"David  describeth  the  blessedness  of  the  man  unto  whom 
God  imputeth  righteousness  without  works."  "  By  the 
obedience  of  one  shall  many  be  made  righteous."  ''  Of 
him  are  je  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto 
us  righteousness.'*  "  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth."  "This  is 
his  name  whereby  ho  shall  be  called,  The  Lord  our 
Kighteousness." 


160  THE  LORD  OUR  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

IV.  But,  once  more,  I  observe  that,  wlien  tlio  people  of 
Christ  call  him  by  the  name,  "  The  Lord  our  Eighteous- 
ness,"  they  are  seen  in  the  act  of  embracing,  appropriating, 
and  rejoicing  in  him,  as  the  Lord  their  righteousness. 
"Our" — a  word  of  possession, — of  appropriation,  "The 
Lord  our  Righteousness."  Do  you  ask  what  the  ground  is 
on  which  this  all-important  embracing,  appropriating,  pro- 
ceeds? I  answer,  that  assuredly  it  is  not  any  kind  of  price 
paid  by  the  sinner, — any  kind  of  equivalent  sought  or  given, 
for  a  possession  which  in  fact  is  beyond  all  price,  even  as 
the  Church  has  no  price  to  pay,  being  in  herself  "wretched, 
and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked."  And 
what  is  the  ground,  therefore,  save  the  free  and  unrestricted 
offer  of  Christ  and  his  glorious  fulness,  in  the  gospel,  to 
sinners  of  mankind, — to  sinners  simply  as  such, — to  them 
all  without  exce]3tion  or  distinction  ?  Thus,  "  My  Father 
giveth  you  the  true  bread  from  heaven."  "If  any  man 
thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me,  and  drink."  "  Hearken  unto 
me|  ye  stout-hearted,  that  are  far  from  righteousness :  I 
bring  near  my  righteousness;  it  shall  not  be  far  off, 
and  my  salvation  shall  not  tarry."  "  Now  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  without  the  law  is  manifested,  being  wit- 
nessed by  the  law  and  th  e  prophets ;  even  the  righteous- 
ness of  God,  which  is  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  unto  all, 
and  upon  all  them  that  believe."  "Ho,  everyone  that 
thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters."  "  Whosoever  will,  let 
him  take  the  water  of  life  freely."  Listening  to  such 
blessed  offers, — taught  by  the  Holy  Ghost  effectually 
to  listen  to  them, — the  Church  flees  for  refuge  to  lay 
hold  oil  the  hope  set  before  her;  no  longer  "going 
about  to  establish  her  own  righteousness,  submits  herself 
to  the  righteousness  of  God ;  "  embraces,  closes  with, 
Messiah  as  the  Lord  her  righteousness — like  some  drown- 
ing man  laying  hold  of  the  plank  that  can  alone  sustain 
and  save  him,  exclaims,  "This  is  his  name  whereby  he 
shall  be  called,  The  Lord  our  Eighteousness."    Nor  is  this 


THE  LORD  OUR  RIGnTEOTJSNESS.  161 

lier  exercise  once  only,  or  a  second  time,  but  constantly 
—  even  as  often  as  she  discovers  new  defilements  deserving 
■wrath,  new  sins  needing  forgiveness,  new  glories  of 
jnirity  and  spirituality  in  the  law  making  manifest  her 
own  vileness.  Entering  daily  into  the  spirit  of  the  title, 
"The  Lord  our  Eighteousness,"  she  lives  by  the  faith  of 
the  Son  of  God ;  comes  up  from  the  wilderness  leaning 
on  her  Beloved ;  runs  the  race  set  before  her,  looking 
unto  Jesus — "This  is  his  name  whereby  he  shall  be 
called.  The  Lord  our  Eighteousness." 

But  there  is  a  further  ground  on  which  the  "  our"  of 
the  text, — this  word  of  j^roperty  and  rightful  possession, 
proceeds.  I  refer  to  scriptural  evidence  of  being  already 
in  Christ, — evidence  of  having  already  embraced  the 
Saviour, — evidence,  in  the  fruits  of  faith,  of  the  existence 
and  reality  of  faith, — evidence  of  union  to  Christ  in  com- 
munion with  him,  and  some  measure  of  conformity  and 
obedience  to  him.  More  and  more  thus  ascertaining  that 
Christ  is  hers  in  possession,  the  Church  comes  to  mingle, 
you  will  observe,  a  new  element  of  thought  and  feehng 
with  the  our^  "  The  Lord  our  Eighteousness."  It.  is 
the  language  of  joy  and  triumph,  as  well  as  of  reliance 
and  faith.  It  is  not  the  spirit  only  of  the  drowning 
man  laying  hold  of  the  plank,  but  of  the  safe  and  happy, 
rich  and  joyful  man,  realizing  his  safety,  and  rejoicing 
in  his  treasures,  "  My  Beloved  is  mine  and  I  am  his." 
"  Surely  shall  one  say.  In  the  Lord  have  I  righteous- 
ness and  strength."  "In  the  Lord  shall  all  the  seed  ol 
Israel  be  justified  and  shall  gloi-y."  "  I  will  greatly  re- 
joice in  the  Lord,  my  soul  shall  be  joyful  in  my  God;  for 
he  hath  clothed  me  with  the  garments  of  salvation,  he 
hath  covered  me  with  the  robe  of  righteousness,  as  a  bride- 
groom decketh  himself  with  ornaments,  and  as  a  bride 
adorneth  herself  with  her  jewels" — "This  is  his  name 
whereby  he  shall  be  called.  The  Lord  our  Eighteousness." 

Let  me  add  an  inference  or  two  before  I  close. 

L 


162 


THE  LORD  OTJR  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 


1.  First,  see  here  how  wondrous  a  provision  the  gospel 
has  made  for  at  once  humbling  the  sinner  and  exalting 
him, — laying  him  low  in  his  own  eyes,  and  yet  gloriously 
ennobling  him.  Utter  destitution  of  righteousness, 
possession  of  an  everlasting  righteousness,  —  we  have 
found  both  elements  together  in  the  title,  ''  The  Lord  our 
Righteousness."  And  you  will  carefully  observe  that 
not  only  is  the  believer  both  humbled  and  exalted ;  but — ■ 
such  is  the  admirable  contrivance  of  Divine  wisdom — it  is 
the  very  same  blessedness  that  elevates  which  also  lays  him 
low.  The  dignity  of  having  Jehovah  for  his  righteousness, 
whereby  he  is  raised  above  angels,  does,  in  the  very  act 
of  his  claiming  and  rejoicing  in  it,  proclaim  him  "a  child 
of  wrath"  by  nature, — "  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins," — 
*' wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and 
naked."  Ah,  the  men  of  this  world  are  proud  of  unreal, 
imaginary  dignities.  The  Christian  learns  to  be  lowly 
amid  royal,  celestial  honours.  This  is  what  the  apostle 
James  means  in  his  remai-kable  words,  *'  Let  the  brother 
of  low  degree  rejoice  in  that  he  is  exalted ;  but  the  rich, 
in  that  he  is  made  low."  Think  not,  brethren,  that  when 
God  so  much  insists  on  laying  the  creature  low,  it  is  that  he 
may  debase  and  degrade  him.  0  no,  no.  He  desires  only  to 
abase  the  pride  which  is  his  real  degradation, — to  lower  him 
in  his  own  eyes,  that  he  may  elevate  him  in  reality, — to  strip 
him  of  a  glory  that  is  visionary,  that  he  may  invest  him  with 
a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away.  He  desires  only 
to  change  the  object  and  ground  of  his  glorying, — trans- 
ferring it  from  himself  to  God,  from  earth  to  heaven,  from 
vanity  to  wisdom,  from  the  ** filthy  rags"  of  his  own 
righteousness  to  the  robe  of  a  righteousness  divine  and 
everlasting.  ''Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Let  not  the  wise  man 
glory  in  his  wisdom,  neither  let  the  mighty  man  glory  in 
his  might,  let  not  the  rich  man  glory  in  his  riches;  but 
let  him  that  glorieth  glory  in  this,  that  he  understandeth 
and  knoweth  me,  that  I  am  the  Lord."     "In  God  we 


THE  LORD  OTJR  RIGTITEOUSNESS.  1G3 

boast  all  the  day  long,  and  praise  tliy  name  for  ever." 
''  Of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto 
us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and 
redemption ;  that,  according  as  it  is  written,  He  that 
glorieth,  let  him  glory  in  the  Lord." 

2.  Again,  see  what  a  ground  of  security,  of  peace,  and  of 
everlasting  blessedness,  the  believer  in  Christ  enjoys.     As 
to  his  security,  he  is  clotlied  from  head  to  foot  with  the 
"righteousness  of  God."     Unlike  to  Adam  at  his  creation, 
who  was  sinless,  indeed,  but  mutable,  and  liable  to  fall, 
the  believer  stands,   not  in   his  own  righteousness,  but 
in  that  of  the  second  Adam,  the  Lord  from  heaven, — 
''  Jehovah  our  Eighteousness."     "  This  is  the  heritage  of 
the  servants  of  the  Lord ;  and  their  righteousness  is  of 
Me,  saith  the  Lord."     Then,  as  to  his  peace,  well  surely 
may  that  be  as  a  river, — a  peace  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing,— when,  in  the  view  of  death  and  judgment  and 
eternity,  he  can  meet  every  challenge  of  conscience  and 
the   law,  by  pleading  the  obedience  unto  death  of  the 
God-man,   exclaiming,    *'  This   is   his   name  whereby  he 
shall  be  called.  The  Lord  our  Eighteousness."     ''Peace 
I   leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you."     "The 
work  of  righteousness   shall   be   peace ;    and   the  effect 
of   righteousness,    quietness   and    assurance    for    ever." 
"Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."     "  0  death,  where  is  thy  sting  V 
0  grave,  where  is  thy  victory?     The  sting  of  death  is  sin  ; 
and  the  strength  of  sin  is  the  law.     But  thanks  be  to 
God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."     As  to  the  believer's  eternal  blessedness,  behold 
it  the  fruit,  and  crown,   and  reward,  not  of  any  merits 
of  his,    but   of    the   rigliteousnoss   of    God's   own    Son. 
And  thus  think  it  not  incredible,  but  rather  natural,  cer- 
tain, necessary,  that  it  should  be  all  that  the  Scriptures 
describe  it, — a  blessedness  not  exaggerated  when  set  forth 
as  an  *' inheriting  of  all  things,"    "inheriting  of  God," 


164  THE  LORD  OUR  RIGnTEOUSNESS, 

<*  sitting  down  with  Christ  in  his  throne,"  an  ''exceed- 
ing and  eternal  weight  of  glory."  What  purity,  glory, 
happiness,  shall  be  deemed  too  great  to  reward  Messiah's 
obedience  unto  death, — to  be  the  fruit  of  the  travail  of 
his  soul, — to  express  the  Father's  boundless,  eternal  com- 
placency in  it.  **He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  how 
shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things  ?  " 

3.  Finally,  let  me  beseech  you  to  use  the  subject  in 
the  way  of  self-inquiry,  and  of  direction,  according   to 
the  result  of  it.     Dear  hearers,  have  you  ever  truly  seen 
yourselves  destitute  of  righteousness?     Have   you  seen 
that  you  need   a  righteousness,   though  you  have  none 
of  your  own,  in  which  to  stand  before  God  ?     Have  you 
beheld  the  Lord  Jesus,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh, — the 
surety  of  the   lost, — made  under  the  law,   obeying   its 
precept,  enduring  its  curse, — ''made  of  God,"  to  all  who 
put  their  trust  in  him,  "  righteousness  "  ?     Have  you  fled 
for  refuge  to  lay  hold  on  this  ofi'ered  Saviour  ?     Have  you 
laid  the  weight  of  your  whole  eternity  on  him  as  the  Lord 
your  righteousness  ?     If  so,  then  blessed  are  ye.     Then  is 
he  your  righteousness  in  actual  possession,  as  well  as  in  the 
offers  of  the  gospel  ?     "  As  ye  have  received  Christ  Jesus  the 
Lord,  so  walk  ye  in  him."     And,  not  content  with  confiding 
in  him,  rejoice  and  glory  in  him,  exclaiming,   "This  is 
his   name   whereby  he   shall   be  called.    The   Lord   our 
Kighteousness."     But  if  you   have   never  built  on  this 
foundation  laid  in  Zion, — if   either   you  are  quite  con- 
scious that  you  have  not,  or  the  absence  of  the  fruits  of 
righteousness  prove  that  you  have  not,  then,  I  beseech 
and  implore   you,  trifle   no   more  with  the  concerns  of 
eternity.      Ponder   well   the   relations   you   stand   in   to 
God,  his  justice,  his  law.     Think  what  that  load  of  un- 
forgiven   guilt  is,  which  even  now  presses  on  you,  and 
presses   all   the   more   fatally  that  you   do   not  feel   it. 
Behold  the  sword  of  Divine  justice  ready  at  any  moment 
to  descend  on  you!     But  I  beseech  you  to  behold  the 


TnE  LORD  OUR  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  1G5 

same  sword,  as  it  entered  the  bowels  of  Emmanuel, 
the  Substitute  of  llie  guilty, — ''Awake?  0  sword  against 
my  Shepherd,  and  against  the  man  that  is  my  fellow, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts;  smite  the  Shepherd."  "Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 
"  We  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did 
beseech  you  by  us,  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be 
ye  reconciled  to  God;  for  he  hath  made  him  who  knew 
no  sin  to  be  sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  him. ' '  ' '  This  is  his  name  whereby 
he  shall  be  called,  The  Lord  our  Eighteousness." 

In  place  of  my  usual  closing  word  to  the  young,  I 
cannot  resist  reading  a  sentence  or  two  from  Bunyan's 
"Pilgrim,"  —  from  the  deepty  in*ecious  dialogue  held 
between  Christian  and  Hopeful,  lest  they  should  go  to 
sleep  on  tbe  Enchanted  Ground  : — 

"  Chr.  And  what  did  you  do  then? 

Hope.  Do  !  I  could  not  tell  what  to  do,  until  I  brake 
my  mind  to  Faithful,  for  he  and  I  were  well  acquainted. 
And  he  told  me,  that  unless  I  could  obtain  the  righteous- 
ness of  a  man  that  never  had  sinned,  neither  mine  own, 
nor  all  the  righteousness  of  the  world  could  save  me. 

Chr.  And  did  you  think  he  spake  true  ? 

Hope.  Had  he  told  me  so  when  I  was  pleased  and 
satisfied  with  mine  own  amendments,  I  had  called  him 
fool  for  his  pains ;  but  now,  since  1  see  mine  own  infir- 
mity, and  the  sin  that  cleaves  to  my  best  performances,  I 
have  been  forced  to  be  of  his  opinion. 

Chr.  But  did  you  think,  when  at  first  he  suggested  it 
to  you,  that  there  was  such  a  man  to  be  found,  of  whom 
it  might  justly  be  said,  that  he  never  committed  sin  ? 

Hope.  I  must  confess  the  words  at  first  sounded 
strangely,  but  after  a  little  more  talk  and  company  with 
him,  1  had  full  conviction  about  it. 

Chr.  And  did  you  ask  liim  what  man  this  was,  and 
how  you  must  be  justified  by  him  ? 


166"  THE  LOED  OUR  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

Hope.  Yes,  and  lie  told  me  it  was  the  Lord  Jesus,  that 
dwelleth  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High.  And  thus, 
said  he,  you  must  be  justified  by  him,  even  by  trusting  to 
what  he  hath  done  by  himself,  in  the  days  of  his  flesh, 
and  suffered  when  he  did  hang  on  the  tree.  I  asked  him 
further,  how  that  man's  righteousness  could  be  of  that 
efiicacy  to  justify  another  before  God?  And  he  told  me 
he  was  the  mighty  God,  and  did  what  he  did,  and  died 
the  death  also,  not  for  himself,  but  for  me ;  to  whom  his 
doings,  and  the  worthiness  of  them,  should  be  imputed,  if 
I  believed  on  Him. 

Chr.  And  what  did  you  do  then  ? 

Hope.  I  made  my  objections  against  my  believing,  for 
that  I  thought  he  was  not  willing  to  save  me. 

Chr.  And  what  said  Faithful  to  you  then  ? 

Hope.  He  bid  me  go  to  Him  and  see.  Then  I  said  it 
was  presumption ;  but  he  said.  No,  for  I  was  invited  to 
come.  Then  he  gave  me  a  book  of  Jesus'  inditing,  to 
encourage  me  the  more  freely  to  come ;  and  he  said,  con- 
cerning that  book,  that  every  jot  and  tittle  thereof  stood 
firmer  than  heaven  and  earth.  Then  I  asked  him,  What 
I  must  do  when  I  came ;  and  he  told  me,  I  must  entreat 
upon  my  knees,  with  all  my  heart  and  soul,  the  Father  to 
reveal  him  to  me.  Then  I  asked  him  further,  how  1  must 
make  my  supplication  to  Him?  And  he  said.  Go,  and 
thou  shalt  find  Him  upon  a  mercy- seat,  where  he  sits  all 
the  year  long,  to  give  pardon  and  forgiveness  to  them 
that  come.  I  told  him  that  I  knew  not  what  to  say  when 
I  came.  And  he  bid  me  say  to  this  effect :  '  God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner,  and  make  me  to  know  and 
believe  in  Jesus  Christ ;  for  I  see,  that  if  his  righteousness 
had  not  been,  or  I  have  not  faith  in  that  righteousness,  I 
am  utterly  cast  away.  Lord,  I  have  lieard  that  thou  art 
a  merciful  God,  and  hast  ordained  that  thy  Son  Jesus 
Christ  should  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world ;  and  moreover, 
that  thou  art  willing  to  bestow  him  upon  such  a  poor 


THE  LOKD  OUR  EIGTITEOUSXESS.  107 

sinner  as  I  am  (and  I  am  a  sinner  indeed) ;  Lord,  take 
therefore  this  oi^portunity,  and  magnify  tliy  grace  in  the 
salvation  of  my  soul,  through  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ. 
Amen.'" 


XIII. 

SELF-DEDICATION  TO  GOD. 

**  0  Lord,  truly  1  am  thy  servant;  I  am  thy  servant 
and  the  son  of  thine  handmaid :  thou  has  loosed  my 
bonds.'" — Ps.  cxvi.  16. 

*'  Loosed  my  bonds."  Whatever  reference  tlie  psalmist 
may  have  in  this  expression  to  deliverance  from  the 
grave, — from  impending  bodily  death,  I  think  we  gather 
sufficiently  from  the  whole  strain  and  spirit  of  the  psalm, 
that  he  points  in  it,  over  and  above,  to  the  anguish  of  an 
inward,  soul-bondage — the  fruit  of  departure  from  the  liv- 
ing God.  Out  of  the  depths  of  this  anguish  he  had  called 
on  the  name  of  the  Lord,  as  he  speaks  at  the  third  verse, 
"The  sorrows  of  death  compassed  me,  and  the  pains  of 
hell  gat  hold  upon  me  ;  I  found  trouble  and  sorrow. 
Then  caUed  I  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord ;  0  Lord,  I  be- 
seech thee,  deliver  my  soul."  In  answer  to  his  cry,  the 
Lord  had  not  only  preserved  his  temporal  life,  but  loosed 
his  spirit  from  its  bonds, — restored  to  him  the  joy  of  his 
salvation,  —  brought  him  back  again  into  the  liberty 
of  His  children.  And  so,  just  as  had  thus  opened  the 
psalm,  *'I  love  the  Loed,  because  he  hath  heard  my  voice 
and  my  supplications ;  because  he  hath  inclined  his  ear 
unto  me,  therefore  will  I  call  upon  him  as  long  as 
I  live : "  and  as,  at  the  seventh  verse,  he  breaks  forth, 
''Eeturn  unto  thy  rest,  0  my  soul;  for  the  Lord  hath  dealt 
bountifully  with  thee;  for  thou  hast  delivered  my  soul  from 
death,  mine  eyes  from  tears,  and  my  feet  from  falling ;  I 


SELF-DEDICATION  TO  GOD.  109 

will  walk  before  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living," — so 
now,  in  our  text,  does  he  renew  his  everlasting  self- 
dedication  to  God,  saying,  **  0  Lord  truly  I  am  thy 
servant;  I  am  thy  servant,  and  the  sop  of  thine  handmaid: 
thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds." 

The  particular  occasion  of  the  psalm  is  uncertain.  If 
David  was  the  penman  of  it,  as  I  think  very  probable, 
would  not  the  occasion  of  the  rebellion  of  his  son 
Absalom — that  fruit  of  his  fearful  sin  in  the  matter  of 
Uriah — with  his  restoration  at  length  to  Jerusalem  and  to 
his  kingdom,  fulfil  the  whole  conditions  of  it  ?  But,  how- 
ever this  ma}^  be,  I  mean  to  take  the  words  more  in  general 
— even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  evidently  designed  them  to  em- 
body the  feelings  and  exercise  of  God's  children  in  every 
age,  when,  remembering  and  realizing  their  redemption 
from  the  bonds  of  sin,  and  death,  and  the  curse,  thejy 
again  and  again,  thankfully  consecrate  themselves  to  the 
God  of  their  salvation,  saying,  ''  0  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy 
servant ;  I  am  thy  servant,  and  the  son  of  thy  handmaid : 
thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds." 

Two  things  invite  our  thoughts  here — the  old  bonds,  and 
the  new, — the  old  bonds  loosed  ;  and  the  new  and  blessed 
bonds  that  have  come  in  place  of  them  for  ever,  **  0 
Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant ;  I  am  thy  servant,  and  the 
son  of  thine  handmaid  :  thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds." 

I.  First,  the  old  bonds  loosed — the  old  bonds.  This 
psalm  is  but  one  of  many  places  of  Scripture,  whore  a  deep 
resemblance,  or  analogy,  is  traced  between  the  bondage  of 
the  soul,  and  the  death  of  the  body, — between  the  condi- 
tion of  a  sin-bound,  sin-imprisoned  soul,  and  the  strong 
dark  bondage  of  the  grave.  For,  first,  the  bondage,  in 
both  cases  alike,  is  desperate  as  to  all  human  power  of 
loosing  from  it.  And  second,  it  is,  in  both  cases,  unknown 
and  unfelt  by  those  that  are  held  most  thoroughly  bound 
in  it.     And  this  because,   thirdly,  it  is  death — death  in 


170  SELF-DEDICATION  TO  GOD. 

both,  cases,  soul  and  body  alike.  I  can  conceive  some  one 
saying  here  within  himself,  So  you  tell  us ;  but  I  am  not 
able  to  understand  it  well.  It  is  easy  to  see  what  the 
strong  dark  bondage  of  the  grave  is — not  so  easy  to  under- 
stand what  that  death,  that  death-bondage,  of  souls  is  of 
which  you  speak.  Dear  hearer,  may  not  this  just  be  what 
I  have  said,  that,  in  both  cases  alike,  the  bondage  is 
unknown  and  unfelt  by  those  who  are  held  most 
thoroughly  bound  in  it  ?  However,  there  is  at  least  this 
important  difference  between  the  two  cases,  that  we  cannot 
even  speak  to  a  body  dead  and  buried  in  the  grave.  But 
we  can  speak  to  a  sin-bound,  death-bound,  soul.  And  fain 
would  I  speak  a  little  to  yox(.  who  are  thus  silently  speak- 
ing to  me. 

Suppose  a  man  to  have  committed  a  capital  crime  ; 
to  have  been  convicted  on  the  fullest  evidence ;  and 
sentenced  to  die  in  a  fortnight.  You  can  understand 
how  that  man  is  dead  already  in  the  eye  of  the  law, — 
already  as  good  as  dead,  because  held  in  the  bonds  of  a 
sentence  of  death.  Ah !  it  is  your  case — it  is  you  I  am 
speaking  of.  For  every  sin,  in  the  government  of  the 
adorable  God,  is  capital — "the  wages  of  sin  is  death,'* 
— the  punishment  annexed  to  it  is  death.  You  have 
sinned.  The  sentence  has  already  gone  forth,  ''  The  soul 
that  sinneth,  it  shall  die."  At  this  hour  you  are  held  in 
the  bonds  of  a  sentence  of  eternal  death,  "  Cursed  is 
every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are 
written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them." 

And  this  is  not  all.  Not  only  are  you  held  in  the  bonds 
of  a  sentence  of  death — you  are  already  dead  in  sin.  So 
the  Holy  Ghost  declares,  when,  speaking  of  some  who 
had  been  for  ever  loosed  from  their  bonds.  He  says,  "  You 
hath  he  quickened,  who  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins." 
Oh,  we  have  grown  so  familiar  with  these  words  that 
we  fail  to  realize  the  import  of  them.  "Dead  in  sins" 
— not  only  chargeable  with  ten  thousand  thousand  iniqui- 


SELF-DEDICATION  TO  GOD. 


171 


ties,  but  dead  in  tliom, — as  tliorouglily  estranged  from,  and 
incapable  of,  all  rig'litoousness,  as  a  body  which  is  dead 
and  lying  in  the  grave  is  incapable  of  all  activity.  Do  not 
misunderstand  me.  It  is  not  that  we  are  incapable  of 
activity, — intense  activity  in  sin.  "Dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins,"  are  the  words,  "  wherein  in  time  past  ye 
icalked.^^  Alas  !  we  are  dead  only  to  God, — alive  too 
fully  to  sin — ''dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  wherein  in 
time  past  ye  walked  according  to  the  course  of  this 
world,  according  to  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air." 
And  thus  are  you  in  the  bonds  also  of  Satan,  and  of  this 
present  world.  Suffice  it,  however,  to  sa}^  more  generally 
— the  bondage  of  a  manifold,  terrible  death.  I  said 
that  the  bondage  in  both  cases,  body  and  soul  alike,  is 
desperate  as  to  all  human  power  of  loosing  from  it. 
But  in  the  case  of  the  soul,  the  bondage  is  much  the  more 
dreadful  for  this  reason,  to  which  I  crave  your  earnest 
attention,  that  at  least  the  power  of  God,  though  not  the 
power  of  man,  can  loose  from  the  other  bondage, — that 
of  the  grave.  It  needed  but  the  simple  word  and  will 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  bring  Lazarus  from  his  tomb.  But 
the  power  even  of  omnipotence  (to  speak  with  reverence) 
cannot  loose  from  the  bondage  of  a  dead  soul,  consisting, 
as  it  partly  does,  in  that  Divine  sentence  of  death  of 
which  I  spoke  just  now.  For  to  such  a  sentence  mere 
power  can  have  no  possible  application.  God  no  more 
can  loose  from  the  sentence  of  his  law  by  any  mere  act  of 
will  or  power,  than  he  can  deny  Himself, — falsify  his 
entire  character  and  perfections. 

But,  strange  to  say,  it  is  at  this  very  point,  where  the 
soul's  bondage  is  at  its  strongest  and  deadliest — for, 
''the  strength  of  sin  is  the  law"  (1  Cor.  xv.  56) — 
that  we  begin  to  hear  of  the  loosing  of  all  the  bonds  to- 
gether,— to  hear  of  the  old  bonds  loosed.  For  that  sen- 
tence of  the  law  which  the  power  of  God  could  not 
loose,  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  could.    "  God  sent  forth  his 


172  SELF-DEDICATION  TO  GOD. 

Son,  made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the  law,  to  redeem 
them  that  were  under  the  law."  The  everlasting  Son  of  the 
Father  took  our  nature  upon  him ;  and,  with  it,  and  in  it, 
took  our  very  bonds,  our  sentence  of  death, — girt  himself 
round  with  it, — bore  it, — exhausted  it.  And  now,  no 
sooner  is  a  man  united  to  the  Crucified  One  by  living 
faith,  than  the  sentence,  borne  by  the  Surety,  falls 
from  off  him  (as  it  is  written,  '*  Christ  hath  redeemed 
us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for 
us")  and,  with  that  sentence,  all  the  other  bonds  together 
— sin,  Satan,  the  world.  None  of  them  can  survive  the 
sentence  of  death.  For,  "the  strength  of  sin  is  the  law:" 
and  "  sin,"  writes  the  apostle,  ''shall  not  have  dominion 
over  you,  for  ye  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under 
grace." 

II.  But  thus  you  will  perceive  that  we  are  already  in 
the  midst  of  our  second  head — the  new  bonds  which  have 
come  in  place  of  the  old  for  ever.  For,  ''sin  shall  not 
have  dominion  over  you."  But  then,  to  be  free  from  the 
dominion  of  sin  is  but  another  word  for  the  service  of  God, 
in  which  the  new  bonds  consist — as  Paul  again  and  again 
speaks  of  "being  made  free  from  'sin,  and  becoming 
the  servants  of  righteousness," — "  being  made  free  from 
sin,  and  becoming  servants  of  God."  "0  Lord,"  says 
David,  "  truly  I  am  thy  servant;  I  am  thy  servant,  and 
the  son  of  thine  handmaid  :  thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds." 
Thus,  secondly,  I  speak  to  you  of  the  new  bonds  of  the 
service  of  God  which  have  come  in  place  of  the  old  for 
ever.  And  first  here  let  me  offer  a  general  remark.  It 
is  an  alternative  for  us  all, — a  choice  for  us  of  bonds — 
the  old  bonds,  or  the  new.  For,  from  bonds  of  every 
kind  we  cannot  possibly  be  free.  As  creatures,  we  must 
be  under  some  master — God  or  Satan.  It  is,  I  repeat, 
a  choice  for  us  between  the  old  bonds  of  sin,  Satan,  the 
world,  hell ;  and  the  new  and  blessed  bonds  of  the  service 
of  the  adorable  God — of  which  now  I  desire  to  speak  a 


SELF-DEDICATIOK-  TO  GOD.  1  73 

little  to  3'ou.  Two  remarks,  opened  out  some-wliat,  may 
suffice  on  the  new  bonds  of  the  service  of  God,  as  they  are 
presented  in  the  text — the  one  having  respect  to  the  nature 
of  them,  the  other  to  the  spring  and  source  of  them. 

1.  First,  as  to  tlie  nature  of  the  new  bonds,  we  are 
taught  in  tlie  Psalmist's  words  that,  as  they  consist  in  the 
service  of  God,  so  that  service  is,  as  to  the  character  of  it, 
first,  true;  second,  entire;  and  third,  hearty  and  free. 

(1.)  It  is  true — ''  0  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant."  It 
is  no  hollow,  simulated,  false-hearted  service,  such  as 
men  too  often  vow  at  communion  tables,  leaving  them 
to  serve  their  own  lusts,  the  world,  the  devil.  8ee  how 
David  is  dealing  here  with  God,  the  Searcher  of  hearts — 
*'  0  Lord,"  says  he,  "  truly  I  am  thy  servant."  Just  as 
at  the  ninth  verse  he  had  said,  ''I  will  walk  before  the 
Lord," — under  the  eye,  and  in  the  immediate  presence, 
of  the  Lord, — "  in  the  land  of  the  living,"  so  here  says  he, 
"0  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant,"  The  truth  is,  that 
those  self- deceivers  at  communion  tables  do  not  speak  to 
God  at  all.  If  they  would  but  carefully  observe  their  own 
thoughts,  they  would  find  that  either  they  speak  to  no 
one,  or,  at  the  best,  to  the  people  of  the  outer  Avorld,  but 
do  not  speak  to  God  at  all.  "0  Jehovah,"  says  David, 
*'  truly  I  am  thy  servant." 

(2.)  And,  as  the  service  is  true,  so  it  is  entire, — not  a 
half,  divided  service,  shared  deliberately  between  God  and 
mammon,  sin  and  righteousness,  Christ  and  Belial.  By  a 
remarkable  figure  the  psalmist  tells  here  the  entireness  of 
his  service,  "0  Lord,"  he  says,  **  truly  I  am  thy  servant, 
and  the  so7i  of  thine  handmaid.^^  For,  as  a  slave  born  in  the 
house, — born  of  a  bondmaid  in  the  family, — was  esteemed 
more  thoroughly  and  unquestionably  a  slave  than  one  re- 
duced to  servitude  for  the  first  time,  so  sa3's  David,  "  I  am 
thy  servant,  and  the  son  of  thine  handmaid'''' — although  I 
do  not  see  why  he  may  not,  over  and  above,  include  the 
idea  of  a  godly  mother  (since  the  two  thoughts  are  in 


174  SELF-DEDICATION  TO  GOD. 

fullest  harmony),  *'  I  am  thy  servant,  and  the  son  of  thine 
handmaid  :  thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds. 

(3.)  And,  as  the  service  is  true  and  entire,  so  also  it  is 
hearty  and  free.  See  how  the  spontaneousness  of  it  comes 
out  in  every  word,  "0  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant; 
I  am  thy  servant,  and  the  son  of  thine  handmaid :  thou 
hast  loosed  my  bonds."  David,  in  fact,  does  not  call  it 
bonds  at  all.  "Thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds,"  he  says.  And 
yet  it  is  bonds,  though  strange  ones — bonds  of  blessed 
liberty, — the  very  defence  and  safeguard  of  liberty, — yea, 
liberty  itself,  as  he  elsewhere  speaks,  "  I  will  walk  at 
liberty,  for  I  seek  thy  precepts."  0  yes,  the  service 
of  God  is  the  creature's  freedom  and  happiness — **  Man's 
chief  end,"  and  also  highest  good,  *'is  to  glorify  God, 
and  to  enjoy  him  for  ever."  Thus  much,  shortly,  of  the 
new  bonds  in  the  nature  of  them. 

2.  My  second  remark  has  respect  to  the  spring  and 
source  of  the  new  bonds.  It  is  taught  here  as  to  this, 
that  it  is  the  loosing  of  the  old  bonds  which  is  the  source 
and  spring  of  the  new,  *'  0  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant ; 
and  the  son  of  thine  handmaid:  thou  hast  loosed  my 
bonds."     It  is  so  in  different  ways. 

(1.)  First,  the  loosing  of  the  old  bonds  is  the  source  and 
spring  of  the  new,  in  that  it  is  indispensable  to  the  whole 
formation  of  them.  So  long  as  the  old  are  not  loosed,  the 
new  cannot  exist.  If,  as  I  said,  we  cannot  be  free  from 
both  old  and  new,  no  more  can  we  be  under  both  at  the 
same  time.  A  man  who  is  under  sentence  of  death  cannot 
serve  his  country.  The  country  can  take  no  service  at  his 
hands.  And  the  sinner  under  the  sentence  of  death  in  the 
divine  law  cannot  serve  God.  God  can  accept  no  service 
from  him.  And,  besides,  he  is  serving  sin,  the  devil,  the 
world,  and  cannot  serve  both  masters,  God  and  sin,  together. 
First,  I  say,  the  loosing  of  the  old  bonds  is  the  indispensable 
condition  of  the  whole  existence  of  the  new. 

(2.)  Second,  the  loosing  of  the  old  bonds  is  the  source 


SELF-DEDICATION  TO  GOD.  ]75 

and  spring  of  the  new,  inasmuch  as  it  fixes  the  new,  many 
ways,  sweetly  and  strongiy  on  the  soul, — enhances  many 
ways  the  obligation  of  God's  service  on  the  soul.  True, 
the  believer  is  said  to  be  **  delivered  from  the  law."  But 
this,  of  course,  only  in  the  curse  and  penalty  of  it, — from 
the  law  as  a  covenant  of  works, — as  the  condition  of 
eternal  life  and  death.  Considered  as  the  rule  of  service, 
not  only  does  the  law  abide  unchanged — its  obligation  is 
many  ways  strengthened.  For  now  it  is  not  the  will  of 
a  Master  only,  a  Lawgiver,  a  Sovereign,  but  of  a  Father 
also,  a  Husband,  a  covenant- God — "  0  Loud,  truly  I  am 
thy  servant ;  I  am  thy  servant,  and  the  son  of  thine  hand- 
maid :  thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds." 

(3.)  Third,  the  loosing  of  the  old  bonds  is  the  source 
and  spring  of  the  new,  in  that  God's  express  purpose  and 
design,  in  the  loosing  of  the  old,  was  to  fix  the  new  for 
ever  upon  the  soul, — to  set  the  soul  free  in  order  to  its 
serving  and  glorifying  Him  for  ever — as  it  is  written, 
*'  Now  we  are  delivered  from  the  law,  being  dead  to  that" 
(margin)  *' wherein  we  were  held,  that  we  snould  serve 
in  newness  of  spirit,  and  not  in  the  oldness  of  the  letter;" 
and  again,  "What  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was 
weak  through  the  flesh,  God,  sending  his  own  Son  in  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the 
flesh  ;  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled 
in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit." 
The  very  purpose  of  God,  I  say,  in  the  loosing  of  the  old 
bonds  was  to  fix  the  new  upon  the  soul  for  ever — 
**  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  for  he  hath  visited 
and  redeemed  his  people  .  .  .  that  we,  being  delivered 
out  of  the  hand  of  our  enemies,  might  serve  him  without 
fear,  in  holiness  and  righteousness  before  him,  all  the 
days  of  our  life." 

(4.)  Fourth,  the  loosing  of  the  old  bonds  is  the  source 
and  spring  of  the  new,  in  that  it  brings  into  the  soul  a 
Divine  power  and  strength, — the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 


176  SELF-DEDICATION"  TO  GOD. 

effectually  to  persuade,  enable,  constrain,  the  soul  to  the 
service  of  God.  0  yes,  in  the  very  same  hour  in  which 
the  curse  falls  from  off  a  soul,  the  Holy  Ghost  enters  it,  as 
it  is  written,  '^  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse 
of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us,  that  the  blessing 
of  Abraham  might  come  on  the  Gentiles  through  Jesus 
Christ,  that  we  might  receive  the  promise  of  the  Spirit 
through  faith."  ''  Sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  you  : 
for  ye  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace," — even  the 
grace  of  that  Spirit  of  holiness  of  whom  it  is  promised 
in  the  new  covenant,  *'I  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you, 
and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep 
my  judgments,  and  do  them." 

(5.)  But  yet  again,  the  loosing  of  the  old  bonds  is  the 
source  and  spring  of  the  new,  in  that,  besides  the  power, 
it  brings  into  the  soul  all  manner  of  inducements,  per- 
suasives, motives,  to  the  service  of  God ;  and  specially 
among  these,  the  motive  of  an  overpowering  gratitude 
and  love,  under  whose  blessed  influence  it  comes  to  pass 
that,  whereas  we  could  not  serve  God  before,  now  we 
cannot  but  serve  him,  as  David  sings  in  this  psalm,  *' What 
shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  towards 
me?"  *'Ileturn  unto  thy  rest,  0  my  soul;  for  the  Lord 
hath  dealt  bountifully  with  thee;  for  thou  hast  delivered 
my  soul  from  death,  mine  eyes  from  tears,  and  my  feet 
from  falling.  I  will  walk  before  the  Lord  in  the  land  of 
the  living."  "  A  certain  creditor,"  said  Jesus,  "  had  two 
debtors;  the  one  owed  five  hundred  pence,  and  the  other 
fifty  :  and  when  they  had  nothing  to  pay,  he  frankly  for- 
gave them  both.  Tell  me,  therefore,  which  of  them  will 
love  him  most  ?  Simon  answered,  I  suppose  that  he  to 
whom  he  forgave  most.  And  Jesus  said  unto  him.  Thou 
hast  rightly  judged."  '*  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth 
us."  "  We  love  him,  because  he  first  loved  us."  "  Unto 
him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his 
own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God 


SELF-DEDICATION  TO  GOD.  177 

and  liis-  Father ;  to  liiiu  Lo  glory  and  dominion  for  ever 
and  ever !" 

Thus  have  I  spukcn  a  little  of  the  old  bonds  loosed;  and 
of  the  new  which  have  come  in  the  place  of  them.  A 
closing  word,  first,  to  those  who  are  strangers  altogether 
to  the  new  bonds  ;  and  then  to  those  that  have  exchanged 
for  tliom  the  old  for  ever. 

Fain  I  would  allectionately  speak  a  word  to  you  who 
are  altogether  strangers  to  the  new  bonds.  You  are  not 
strangers  to  bonds.  You  are  in  the  old  bonds — "  Know 
ye  not,  that  to  whom  ye  yield  yourselves  servants  to  obey, 
his  servants  ye  are  to  whom  ye  obey;  whether  of  sin  unto 
death,  or  of  obedience  unto  righteousness?"  And  Paul 
goes  on  to  appeal  to  those  who  had  been  loosed  from  their 
bonds,  ' '  What  fruit  had  ye  then  in  those  things  whereof 
ye  are  now  ashamed?"  It  is  quite  possible,  dear  hearers, 
that  you  feel  no  particular  shame.  But  will  you  try  to 
read  the  text  thus — "  0  Satan,  world,  self,  sin,  truly  I  am 
your  servant!"  You  shrink  from  this.  But  remember 
that  you  can  only  be  loosed  from  the  old  bonds  by  exchang- 
ing them  for  the  new.  And  the  Lord  Jesus  is  welcoming 
you  at  this  hour  to  make  that  exchange,  saying,  "  Come 
unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  3'ou  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you  " — as  if  he 
should  say,  Come  unto  me,  and  I  will  give  you  rest 
from  your  own  yoke, — from  the  old  bonds;  then  *'take 
my  yoke  upon  you," — the  new  bonds,  "and  learn  of 
me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart ;  and  ye  shall  find 
rest  unto  your  souls  ;  for  my  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  burden 
is  light."  Ah !  I  can  thus  speak  to  you,  indeed.  But  God 
can  speak  after  another  manner — "  AVhen  I  passed  by 
thee,  and  saw  thee  polluted  in  thine  own  blood,  I  said 
unto  thee  when  thou  wast  in  thy  blood.  Live  ;  yea,  I  said 
unto  thee,  when  tliou  wast  in  thy  })lood,  Live" — "  Come 
unto  me.  all  ye  tliat  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
^ive  vou  re^-t." 


178  self-dedicatio:n'  to  god. 

And  now  to  those  who  are  not  strangers  to  the  new 
bonds,  but  have  exchanged  for  them  the  old  for  ever,  I 
will  but  say,  Happy,  thrice  happy,  servants  of  the  Lord  ! 
When  the  Queen  of  Sheba  visited  Solomon,  witnessed  the 
grandeur  of  his  court,  and  heard  his  wisdom,  she  broke 
forth,  "Happy  are  thy  men,  happy  are  these  thy  servants, 
which  stand  continually  before  thee."  Ah,  poor  Solomon! 
Thrice  happy  servants,  I  repeat,  of  our  Solomon — King  of 
kings,  blessed  and  only  Potentate !  AVhat  a  service ! 
"What  a  Master  !  What  a  reward — "Come,  ye  blessed  of 
my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world!"  "There  shall  be  no  more 
curse  ;  but  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  shall  be  in 
it :  and  his  servants  shall  serve  him  ;  and  they  shall  see 
his  face ;  and  his  name  shall  be  in  their  foreheads." 
What  remains  but  that,  remembering  well,  and  oftentimes 
meditating  on,  the  old  bonds,  with  the  wondrous  loosing 
of  them,  you  again  and  again  thankfidly  renew  your 
self-dedication  to  the  Lord,  saying,  "  0  Lord,  truly  I 
am  thy  servant ;  I  am  thy  servant,  and  the  son  of  thine 
handmaid:  thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds"?  I  persuade 
myself  that  you  will  find  not  a  little  helpful  for  this  end 
the  following  beautiful  Leaflet,  from  the  pen  of  the  saintly 
John  Milne,  of  Perth,  which  I  have  long  esteemed  very 
precious : — 

A  HELP  TO  SELF-DEDICATIOX.* 

•'  I,  the  Lord,  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  with  you."— ISA.  Iv.    . 
"One  shall  say,  I  am  the  Lord's;  and  another  shall  subscribe  wilh  his  hand 
unto  the  Lord."— Isa.  xliv.  5. 

Lord  God  of  hosts,  thou  didst  enter  into  covenant  with 
Abraham,  as  he  waited  beside  the  sacrifices  which  he  had  pre- 
pared (Gen.  XV.  18),  and  thou  art  now  graciously  waiting  beside 
Jesus,  the  sacrifice  which  Thou  hast  prepared,  iu  order  that 
sinners  may  come  and  enter  into  covenant  with  thee  (2  Cor.  v. 

*  There  may  be  those  who  may  wish  to  possess  this  Leaflet  in  a 
shape  admitting  of  more  easy  private  use.  Ft  is  to  be  had  from  tie 
Efiligious  Tract  Society,  Paternoster  Row,  London. 


SELF-DEDICATIOX  TO  GOD.  179 

(0).  Father,  I  have  sinned  against  Heaven,  and  in  thy  sight, 
and  I  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  child  ;  but  thou,  in  thy 
rich  mercy,  art  willing  to  receive  me  ;  and  I,  through  thy  grace, 
am  willing  to  be  thine.  I  lay  all  my  sin  (Lsa.  liii.  G),  the  sin  of 
my  nature  (Ps.  li.  5),  the  sin  of  my  heart  (Jer.  xvii.  9),  the  sin 
of  my  life  (Job  xxxiii.  27),  the  sin  of  my  lips  (lsa.  vi.  5),  my 
secret  sins  (Ps.  cxxxix.  3), — I  lay  all  my  sins,  and  iniquities, 
and  unrighteousnesses,  and  transgressions,  upon  Jesus  the  Lamb 
of  God  ;  and,  cleansed  by  his  blood,  and  made  acceptable  in  his 
righteousness  (Eph.  i.  6,  7),  I  desire  now  to  give  myself  to  thee 
(2  Cor.  viii.  5)  in  an  everlasting  covenant,  never  to  be  broken 
(Jer.  xxxii.  40). 

I  am  not  my  own,  I  am  thine  (1  Cor.  vi.  19).  My  heart  is 
not  my  own,  it  is  thine  ;  I  will  endeavour  to  keep  it  for  thee, 
and  to  make  it  Bethel,  a  temple  for  the  Holy  Ghost  (2  Cor.  vi. 
16).  My  thoughts  are  not  my  own,  they  are  thine  ;  I  will  cul- 
tivate godly  and  heavenly  meditations  (Ps.  i.  2,  and  Ixiii.  6). 
My  words  are  not  my  own,  they  are  thine  ;  I  will  avoid  all  idle, 
unprofitable,  vain-glorious,  flattering,  uncharitable  discourse 
(Eph.  iv.  29 ;  Col.  iii.  8,  9) ;  and  I  will  seek  to  have  my  conver- 
sation always  savouring  of  Christ  and  heaven  (Deut.  vi.  7  ; 
Matt.  xii.  34-37  ;  Col.  iii.  16).  My  eyes  are  not  my  own,  they 
are  thine  ;  I  will  withhold  them  from  looking  upon  sin  and 
vanity  (Hab.  i.  13).  My  wealth  is  not  my  own,  it  is  thine  ;  I 
am  only  thy  steward  ;  I  will  therefore  lay  it  out  prudently  and 
faithfully  for  thee,  avoiding  all  unnecessary  expense  upon 
myself  (Deut.  xxiv.  19-21  ;  Job  xxix.  12,  13  ;  Prov.  iii.  9,  10  ; 
!Matt.  XXV.  35,  36  ;  Luke  xxi.  2-4).  My  time  is  not  my  own, 
it  is  thine  ;  I  will  employ  it  for  thee,  doing  all  I  do  as  unto  the 
Lord,  striving  every  day  to  grow  in  grace  and  in  knowledge, 
and  to  make  myself  useful  to  my  fellow-men  ;  I  will  redeem  my 
time  from  too  long  or  needless  visits,  idle  imaginations,  fruitless 
discourse,  unnecessary  sleep,  and  more  than  needful  care  about 
my  worldly  afi'airs  (Eph.  v.  16  ;  Col.  iv.  5).  I  desire  to  commit 
all  my  affairs  to  thee  ;  my  friends,  my  family,  my  health,  my 
business,  my  esteem  in  the  world.  I  am  willing  to  receive 
what  thou  givest,  to  want  what  thou  withholdest,  to  relinquish 
what  thou  takest,  to  suffer  what  thou  inflictest,  to  be  what  thou 
requirest,  and  to  do  what  thou  commandest. 


180  SELr-DEDICATION  TO  GOD. 

Lord  God  of  hosts,  I  desire  deliberately,  cheerfully,  and  with 
full  purpose  of  heart,  thus  to  surrender  myself  wholly  and  for 
ever  to  thee ;  I  feel  that  this  is  my  duty,  my  interest,  my 
privilege,  my  glory  ; — I  believe  that  thou  wilt  receive  what  I 
thus  give  (2  Cor.  vi.  17) ;  I  believe  that  thou  wilt  keep  what  I 
have  thus  committed  to  thee  (2  Tim.  i.  12) ;  I  will  trust  in  thee 
for  temporal  provision  (Ps.  xxiii.  1) ;  I  will  trust  in  thee  for 
support  under  daily  cares  and  labours  (Isa.  xxvi.  3);  I  will 
trust  in  thee  for  pardon  of  daily  sins  (Ezek.  xxxvi.  25)  ;  I 
will  trust  in  thee  for  growth  and  fruitfulness  (Hos.  xiv.  5)  ; 
I  will  trust  in  thee  for  strength  in  the  hour  of  death  (Isa.  xliii. 
2).  If  I  sin,  may  I  grieve  without  despair  ;  if  I  walk  uprightly, 
may  I  rejoice  without  pride. 

Lord  Jesus,  I  take  thee  for  my  Prophet,  my  Priest,  my  King, 
my  Life,  my  Light,  my  Eest,  my  Joy,  my  Glory,  my  All  in  All. 

Spirit  of  Adoption,  that  proceedest  from  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  I  desire  to  receive  thee  into  my  soul,  that  thou  mayest 
abide  with  me.  Convince  me  of  sin,  convince  me  of  judgment, 
guide  me  into  all  truth,  take  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  show 
them  unto  me;  be  as  the  dew  and  rain  of  heaven  to  my  soul, 
causing  the  word  of  life  to  take  root,  and  grow,  and  bear  the 
fruits  of  peace,  joy,  love,  gentleness ;  enable  me  to  mortify  the 
flesh  with  its  affections  and  lusts, — when  the  enemy  comes  in 
like  a  flood,  do  thou  lift  up  a  standard  against  him ;  be  in  me 
as  a  well  of  living  water, — be  in  me  as  the  earnest  of  the  inherit- 
ance, as  the  first  fruits  of  heaven, — sealing  me  unto  the  day  of 
redemption.  Holy  and  Blessed  Spirit,  help  me  to  distinguish 
between  thy  voice  and  the  voice  of  the  evil  one, — between  thy 
suggestions  and  the  impulses  of  the  flesh, — between  thy  leadings 
and  the  frowardness  of  my  own  heart.  I  will  labour  not  to 
resist,  nor  grieve,  nor  dishonour,  nor  quench  thee ;  but  with  a 
humble,  broken,  mortified,  self-denying  spirit,  will  endeavour 
to  fall  in  with  thee  in  all  things,  and  to  think,  and  sj^eak,  and 
act  in  thee. 

0  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant  ;  I  am  thy  servant, 

AND  the  son   of   THINE   HANDMAID  :    THOU  HAST  LOOSED  MY 
BONDS. 


xiy. 

THE  SICKNESS-THE  PHYSICIAN.* 

^^  And  it  came  to  j'xisa,  as  Jesus  sat  at  meat  in  the 
house,  behold,  many  2JitbUcans  and  sinners  came  and 
sat  down  tvith  him  and  his  disciples.  And  when  the 
Pharisees  saio  it,  they  said  unto  his  disciples,  ^  Why 
eateth  your  Master  toith  publicans  and  sinners?  Bui 
when  Jesus  heard  that,  he  said  unto  them.  They  that  be 
whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  thai  are  slck.^^ — 
Matt.  ix.  10-12. 

Text — "But  lohen  Jesus  heard  thai,  he  said  unto 
them,  They  that  be  whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they 
that  are  sick." 

It  was  as  if  he  had  said,  I  eat  with  siimers  for  the  same 
reason  that  physicians  walk  in  hospitals, — are  found  in 
sick  rooms,  and  at  sick  and  dying  beds.  I  am  a  physician; 
sinners  are  the  sick  ones,  sin  the  terrible  sickness,  I 
am  come  into  the  world  to  cure  and  heal !  You  ask,  why 
eat  I  with  sinners?  Because  I  am  the  Saviour  of  sinners. 
If  there  be  any  who  are  not  sinners,  they  do  not  need  me, 
and  I  have  no  errand  to  them.  You  ask  why  I  eat  with 
sinners.  It  is  the  very  reason  of  my  eating  with  them, 
that  they  are  sinners — for,  "they  that  are  whole  need 
not  a  physician,  but  the}' that  are  sick."  Thus,  I  think, 
there  are  two  things  which  invite   our  thoughts  here — 

*  This  short  sermon  was  originally  aihlrcsscd  to  the  young. 
With  a  few  slight  changes,  it  was  preached  afterwards  to  more 
than  one  congregation  at  large.  Its  "plainness  of  speech"  needs 
no  a})ology.      There  is  but  one  gospel  for  old  and  young. 


182  THE  SICKNESS THE  PHYSICIAN-. 

the  sickness,  and  the  physician, — these  sick  ones  Tvho 
need  the  physician,  and  the  glorious  physician  for  their 
need. 

I.  First,  I  touch  on  the  sickness  spoken  of, — these 
sick  ones  who  need  the  physician,  —  "they  that  are 
sick."  Of  course  you  understand,  then,  that  it  is  not  of 
any  kind  of  bodily  sickness  our  Lord  is  speaking,  but  of 
sin,  likened  by  him  to  sickness, — of  sin,  the  worst  of  all 
sickness,  disease — ^'  they  that  are  sick.*'  True,  indeed, 
Jesus  healed  the  sick  in  body  when  he  was  on  the  earth ; 
he  healed  fevers,  palsies,  leprosies — "  all  manner  of 
sickness  and  disease  among  the  people."  But  that  was 
not  what  he  came  into  the  world  for.  When  he  healed 
the  body,  it  was  for  the  soul  chiefly, — to  get  the  better  at 
the  heart,  the  soul.  AVhen  he  healed  the  body,  it  was 
that  men  might  see  how  he  was  just  as  able,  by  a  word,  a 
touch,  to  heal  the  precious  soul.  It  was  that  they  might 
see  sm  in  all  the  different  diseases  which  he  healed, — 
see  in  them  a  kind  of  likeness  of  that  more  fearful  sickness 
of  sin  which  had  brought  him  into  the  world.  Accord- 
ingly, observe  for  a  moment  with  me  the  likeness — ay,  and 
the  terrible  difference  too.  The  likeness.  As  sickness  is 
a  disordered  body,  so  is  sin  a  precious  soul  all  in  disorder. 
Sickness  of  body,  not  healed,  will  kill  the  body.  Sin,  not 
healed, — not  pardoned,  repented  of, — will  kill  the  never- 
dying  soul.  Or,  take  any  of  the  particular  diseases  whicli 
Christ  healed  on  the  earth,  and  see  the  likeness  in  them. 
He  healed  madness.  Sin  is  madness,  flying  in  the  face 
of  God, — fighting  against  God,  and  the  sinner's  own 
happiness.  He  healed  fevers.  Sin  is  a  fever,  consuming, 
burning,  the  soul.  He  healed  palsies.  Sin  is  a  palsy, 
laying  the  soul  prostrate.  He  healed  leprosy.  Sin  is  a 
leprosy,  very  foul  and  loathsome,  and  spreading  its  vile- 
ness  to  all  around.  He  healed  deafness,  blindness.  The 
sinner  is  deaf,  blind,— deaf  to  the  voice  of  God  and  of  his 


THE  SICKNESS — THE  PHYSICIAN.  183 

cwii  conscienco— blind  to  all  it  most  coucorns  him  to  see, 
— to  himself,  to  God,  to  Clirist,  to  heaven,  to  hull ! 

Well,  sin  is  like  sickness  ;  but  see  the  difference, 
— the  great  and  terrible  difference,  too.  Sickness  is 
usually  one  disease.  Sin  is  all  diseases  in  one — tlie  mad- 
ness, the  fever,  the  palsy,  the  leprosy,  the  deafness,  the 
blindness,  all  in  one  !  Men  wish  to  be  free  of  sickness 
of  body.  Alas !  they  do  not  wish  to  be  free  of  sin,  the 
disease  of  the  soul.  The  worse  sickness  of  body  is,  the 
more  earnest  men  are  to  be  free  of  it.  The  worse  sin  is, 
tiie  more  men  wish  to  keep  it.  Men  run  to  physicians 
of  the  body, — will  travel  far  to  find  them, — give  large 
sums  to  get  tlieir  advice  and  aid.  But  when  a  glorious 
Physician  offers  himself  for  their  souls,  ''  without  money 
and  without  price,"  they  *'  hide  as  it  were  their  faces  from 
him," — they  say  in  heart,  "  Depart  from  us,  for  we  desire 
not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways."  And  see  yet  another 
mournful  difference.  Sickness  is  disease  ;  sin  is  crime, — 
siu.  There  is,  speaking  generally,  no  blame  in  sickness 
of  bod}^ — it  is  misfortune,  not  fault.  But  sin  is  just  fault 
— "sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law  " — "  the  wa^es  of 
sin  is  death," — death  of  soul  and  body  both.  *'  The 
soul  tliat  sinneth,"  saith  God,  "it  shall  die."  "Cursed 
is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are 
written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them."  So  much 
tlien,  briefly,  for  the  sickness  of  which  our  Lord  speaks, — 
tliese  sick  ones  who  need  the  physician. 

II.  Let  me  now  touch,  a  little  more  fully,  on  tlie 
glorious  Physician  for  their  need. 

1.  And  lirst,  let  me  say  of  him — there  is  no  other ^ — 
there  is  but  this  one  physician  for  sin, — for  the  precious 
soul.  If  you  are  sick  in  body,  you  may  have  a  choice 
among  physicians.  But  for  the  more  terrible  sickness  of 
sin,  none  but  Christ !  none  but  Christ  !  Oh,  if  you  miss 
Ilim,  you  must  remain  under  your  disease  for  ever — "I, 


184  THE  SICKNESS THE  PHYSICIA^^. 

even  I,  am  Jehovah,  and  beside  me  there  is  no  Saviour" 
— "Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other ;  for  there  is 
none  other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby 
we  must  be  saved."  I  say  there  is  but  this  one  physician 
for  sin, — for  the  precious  soul.  But,  happily,  there  needs 
no  other.     For  see  what  kind  of  a  physician  this  is. 

2.  Secondly,  I  observe  respecting  him,  that  he  hioivs 
our  whole  case,  our  whole  disease,  and  so  is  able  to  deal  with 
it.  Other  physicians  have  to  work  often  in  the  dark. 
They  are  uncertain  what  the  disease  is.  Even  if  they 
know  it,  indeed,  they  may  be  quite  unable  to  heal  it. 
But  they  cannot  heal,  if  they  do  not  know,  it.  This 
physician  never  works  in  the  dark.  He  is  an  omniscient 
j^hysician — "He  needeth  not  that  any  should  testify  of 
man,  for  he  knows  what  is  in  man."  Oh,  he  knows  the 
worst  of  me  !  Indeed,  we  might  fear  that  one  so  holy, 
k'nowing  all  our  vileness,  would  flee  from  us,  or  else  come 
near  only  to  destroy  us.  That  was  Peter's  fear,  when 
he  fell  down  once  at  Jesus's  knees,  saj'ing,  "De^^art  from 
me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  0  Lord."  But  what  was  the 
answer  of  Jesus  to  him  ?  "  Fear  not,  Simon,  from  hence- 
forth thou  shalt  catch  men."     For — 

3.  Thirdly,  I  observe  about  this  physician,  that  he  is 
unspeakably  tender  also — an  omniscient,  but  an  unspeak- 
ably kind,  tender,  loving,  physician.  AVhat  else  but 
kindness,  love,  could  have  brought  him  ever  down  into 
this  dark,  leprous,  dying,  world  of  ours  ?  Ah !  other 
physicians  may  grow  rich  by  their  healing.  Jesus  be- 
came poor,  poor,  by  his — "Though  he  was  rich,  yet  for 
our  sakes  he  became  j)Oor."  Jesus  came  in  among  the 
leprous  ones,  that  he  might  be  able  to  heal  them.  Yea, 
"  Himself  took  our  infirmities,  and  bare  our  sicknesses" — 
took,  in  a  mysterious  manner,  our  very  leprosy, — was 
"made  sin,"  "made  a  curse,"  that  we  might  be  healed 
and  saved !  Oh,  there  was  never  a  physician  like  this  ! 
His  chief  medicine  is  his  own  blood — "  by  his  stripes  we 


THE  SICKNESS THE  niYSICIAN.  185 

are  liealed  "  !  There  would  be  something  awful  about  an 
omniscient  physician,  knowing  our  whole  vileness,  if  lie 
were  not  very  tender,  kind,  loving.  But  this  is  Tie 
who  "took  up  the  little  children  in  his  arms,  put  liis 
hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them."  This  is  lie  who, 
from  the  cross,  commended  his  mother  to  the  care  of  the 
beloved  disciple.  This  is  lie  of  whom  we  were  singing  a 
little  ago,  "•  lie  healeth  the  broken  in  heart,  and  bindelh 
up  their  wounds.  He  teileth  the  number  of  the  stars  ;  he 
calleth  them  all  by  their  names.  Great  is  our  Lord,  and 
of  great  power  ;  his  understanding  is  infinite."  And  that 
is  the  next  thing  I  observe  about  this  physician — 

4.  Fourthly,  he  is  a  mightijy  all-shilful,  physician, — 
alJe  to  cure  and  heal  to  tlie  uttermost.  Other  physicians 
may  know  the  disease,  and  be  altogether  unable  to 
heal  it.  There  never  was  a  case  put  into  Christ's 
hand,  of  which  he  said,  I  am  not  equal  to  that  case. 
Other  physicians  have  their  hopes  and  fears  ;  and  they 
will  do  their  best.  Not  so  this  physician.  *'  AVilt  thou 
be  made  whole?"  he  said  to  the  man  who  had  lain 
thirty  and  eight  years  entirely  helpless.  "  I  will  come 
and  heal  him,"  said  he  of  the  centurion's  dying  servant — 
as  old  Matthew  Henry  has  it,  "  Not,  I  will  come  and 
prescribe  for  him,  or,  I  will  come  and  i)ray  for  him  ;  but. 
I  will  come  and  heal  him."  ^'  I  will,  be  thou  clean,"  he 
said  to  the  man  full  of  leprosy,  and  ''immediately  liis 
leprosy  departed  from  him."  As  I  said,  he  healed  those 
diseases  of  the  body,  that  men  might  see  how  he  was  just 
as  able,  by  a  word,  by  a  touch,  to  heal  the  precious  soul. 
What  souls  has  he  not  healed !  He  healed  "Manasseh. 
lie  healed  the  thief  on  the  cross.  He  healed  Saul  of 
Tarsus,  "before  a  blasphemer,  and  a  persecutor,  and 
injurious."  And  I  think  some  poor  believer  here  is  ready 
to  say,  You  need  not  go  so  far  away ;  he  can  heal  any 
soul,  for  I  trust  he  has  healed  mine. 

5.  But,  fifthly,  I  must  observe  that  this  is  a  faithful 


186  THE  SICKNESS THE  PHYSICIAN. 

physician.  What  I  mean  is, — he  will  not  flatter  and 
deceive  you.  He  will  not  shin  over  your  wound,  and  say 
that  it  is  healed.  He  will  not  do  as  the  men  we  read 
of  in  Jeremiah,  ''They  have  healed  the  hurt  of  the 
daughter  of  my  people  slightly,  saying,  Peace,  peace, 
when  there  is  no  peace."  He  is  too  kind  and  loving  for 
that.  If  you  Avant  that,  you  must  go  elsewhere  than  to 
Christ.  This  physician  will  probe  your  wound  to  the 
bottom,  that  he  may  heal  it  indeed.  "That  limb  must 
come  off,"  he  may  very  possibly  say.  Behold  what  his 
cure  is — are  you  willing  to  have  it?  "I  will  sprinkle 
clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean :  from  all 
your  filthiness,  and  from  all  your  idols,  will  I  cleanse  you. 
A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I 
put  within  you ;  and  I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart  out 
of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  an  heart  of  flesh.  And 
I  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you,  and  cause  you  to  walk  in 
my  statutes,  and  3'e  shall  keep  my  judgments,  and  do 
them."  Behold  this  physician,  and,  his  cure,  "  Him 
hath  God  exalted  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  to  give 
repentance  unto  Israel,  and  forgiveness  of  sins  " — repent- 
ance and  forgiveness,  both.  "  Zaccheus,"  said  he,  "make 
haste,  and  come  down ;  for  to  day  I  must  abide  at  thy 
house.  And  he  made  haste,  and  came  down,  and  received 
him  joyfully.  And  when  they  saw  it,  they  all  murmured, 
saying,  That  he  was  gone  to  be  guest  with  a  man  that  is 
a  sinner.  And  Zaccheus  stood,  and  said  unto  the  Lord, 
Behold,  Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor ; 
and  if  I  have  taken  anything  from  any  man  by  false 
accusation,  I  restore  him  four-fold."  Behold  the  cure  of 
this  physician,  "Thou  wilt  subdue  our  iniquities;  and 
thou  wilt  cast  all  their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea  "  ! 
Jesus,  I  say,  is  a  faithful  physician. 

6.  But  once  more  I  observe,  that  he  is  a  physician  very 
near  at  hand — so  near,  that  if  you  are  but  ready  even 
now,  to  give  your  soul  to  him  to  be  healed,  he  is  with 


THE  SICKNESS THE  PnYSICIAX.  187 

you  wlicre  3-011  now  sit,  to  take  it  of  you.  All,  wo  go  in 
search  of  other  x">^iy^'^icians.  This  pliysician  comes  in 
search  of  us,  as  he  said,  "  The  Sou  of  man  is  come  to  seek 
and  to  save  that  wliich  was  lost."  "We  knock  at  the  door 
of  other  physicians ;  and  sometimes,  when  they  are  most 
needed,  they  are  not  to  be  found.  This  physician  knocks 
at  our  door — "a  ver}'  present  help  in  trouble" — "Behold," 
saj's  he,  "I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock;  if  any  mau 
liear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to 
him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me." — Thus 
I  have  said  about  this  physician — There  is  no  other. 
He  knows  our  whole  case.  He  is  unspeakably  tender, 
kind,  loving.  He  is  mighty,  all-skilful, — able  to  heal  to 
tlie  uttermost.  He  is  a  faithful  physician.  He  is  a 
pln'sician  very  near  at  hand. 

Beloved  hearers,  do  you  know  him  ?  Have  3'ou  given 
your  souls, — truly  given  them, — into  his  hand,  to  be  healed 
by  him  ?  If  you  have,  then  let  me  say  that  3'ou  are  healed; 
and  3'et  3-ou  are  not  healed.  You  are  healed — if  you  have 
truly  given  your  souls  into  Christ's  hand,  he  has  healed 
you  in  this  way,  that  your  sins  are  forgiven,  and  you  are 
born  again.  And  yet  you  are  not  healed,  in  this  other 
way,  that  you  have  still  many  wounds, — much  of  the  sore 
sickness, — remaining  about  you.  And  you  must  come 
to  the  physician  afresh  every  day,  saying,  "Heal  me, 
0  Lord,  and  I  shall  be  healed  "— "^ 

"  Eock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me, 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  thee  ! 
Let  the  water  and  the  blood, 
From  thy  riven  side  which  Ho  wed, 
Be  of  sin  the  double  cure, — 
Cleanse  me  from  its  guilt  and  power." 

But  if  you  have  never  come  to  this  physician, — never 
given  your  souls  truly  into  his  hand, — then  3'ou  are  carry- 
ing about  the  whole  terrible  sickness  with  3'ou,  ready  to 


188  THE  SICKXESS — THE  PHYSICIAN. 

end  in  the  second,  eternal,  death.  You  are  carrying 
with  you  all  the  sins  you  ever  committed  since  you 
had  a  being — unpardoned,  unrepented  of,  unremoved, 
unhealed !  Sure  I  am,  it  is  not  because  there  is  not  a 
physician  •  among  us,  able  and  willing  to  heal  you. 
"Is  there  no  balm  in  Gilead  ?  is  there  no  physician  there  ? 
Why  then  is  not  the  health  of  the  daughter  of  my  people 
recovered?"  Listen  to  Christ's  own  answer  to  the  question, 
"Ye  will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye  might  have  life."  In 
my  text  he  bids  you  welcome  to  him  just  as  you  are.  He 
makes  your  very  wounds  your  welcome, — your  simjDle 
need  of  him  your  sufficient  welcome  to  him.  AVhen  they 
asked  why  he  ate  with  sinners — it  is  the  very  reason,  he 
answered,  of  my  eating  with  them  that  they  are  sinners — 
for  "they  that  are  whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they 
that  are  sick."  Oh  that  you  w^ere  persuaded  to  say  to 
him  in  the  words  of  Cowper's  precious  hymn — 

Heal  us,  Immanuel ;  here  we  are, 

Waiting  to  feel  thy  touch  : 
Deep-wounded  souls  to  thee  repair  ; 

And,  Saviour,  we  are  such. 

Eemember  him  who  once  applied, 

With  trembling,  for  relief  : 
•'Lord,  I  believe,"  with  tears  he  cried  ; 

0  "help  my  unbelief  "  ! 

She,  too,  who  touched  thee  in  the  press. 

And  healing  virtue  stole. 
Was  answered,   "  Daughter,  go  in  peace  ; 

Thy  faith  hath  made  thee  Avliole." 


Oh  that  you  were  addressing  him  in  the  language  of 
the  prophet  Jeremiah,  "  Heal  me,  0  Lord,  and  I  shall  be 
healed ;   save  me,  and  I  shall  be  saved :  for  thou  art  my 


praise"  ! 


XV. 

PARABLE  OF  THE  IMARRIAGE  FPL\ST. 

**  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  liJce  unto  a  certain  Idnrj^ 
which  made  a  marriage  for  his  son,  and  sent  forth  his 
seri'ants  to  call  them  that  were  hidden  to  the  iveddinj  : 
and  they  ivoidd  not  come.  Again,  he  sent  forth  otlur 
servants,  saying.  Tell  them  which  are  hidden,  Behold,  I 
have  2^repared  my  dinner:  my  oxen  and  my  failings  are 
killed,  and  all  things  are  ready ;  come  unto  the  marriage. 
But  thfij  made  light  of  it,  and  went  their  ways,  one  to 
his  farm,  another  to  his  merchandise :  and  the  remnant 
took  his  servants,  and  entr-eated  them  spitefully,  and 
s'ew  them.  But  when  the  king  heard  thereof,  he  was 
wroth:  and  he  sent  forth  his  armies,  and  destroyed  those 
murderers,  and  hurned  up  their  city.  Then  saith  he  to 
his  servants.  The  v)edding  is  ready,  but  they  which  loere 
hidden  were  not  worthy.  Go  ye  therefore  into  the  high- 
ways, and  as  many  as  ye  shall  find,  hid  to  the  marriage. 
So  those  servants  icent  out  into  the  highivays,  and  ga- 
thered together  all,  as  many  as  they  found,  both  had 
and  good  :  and  the  wedding  was  furnished  with  guests. 
And  when  the  king  came  in  to  see  the  guests,  he  saw 
there  a  man  which  had  not  on  a  wedding-garment :  and 
he  saith  unto  him.  Friend,  how  earnest  thou  in  hither^ 
not  having  a  xcedding -garment  ?  And  he  v^as  speech- 
less. Then  said  the  king  to  the  servants.  Bind  him  Itand 
and  foot,  and  take  him  away,  and  cast  him  into  outer 
darkness;  there  shall  he  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 
For  many  are  called,  hut  few  are  chosen.'^ — Matt. 
xxii.  2-14. 

A  FEW  opening  words  on  the  structure  of  this  parable 
will,  I  think,  simplify  materially  the  exposition  of  it.    Any 


190  PAEABLE  OF  THE  MABEIAGE  FEAST. 

one  wno  examines  with  care  the  parables  of  Christ,  as 
regards  their  structure,  will  find  that  they  divide  them- 
selves into  at  least  two  great  kinds  or  classes.     In  the 
first,  which  is  the  most  numerous,  there  is  a  sort  of  story 
of  common  life, — a  narrative  of  certain  things  of  possi- 
ble, if  not  actual,  occurrence  in  ordinary  life, — represent- 
ing and  embodying  great  corresponding  things  in  the 
spiritual  world.     Such  is  the  parable  of  the  Sower ;  of 
the  Tares  in  the  Field  ;  and  many  others.     In  the  other 
kind  of  parables — of  which  the  Pharisee  and  the  Publi- 
can may  be  taken  as  an  example — there  is  no  story  of 
common  life  at  all.     It  is  the  spiritual  world  alone, — 
simply  a  class  of  characters  in  it  (or  more  than  one  class, 
as   the   case   may  be),    represented   by   a   specimen,   or 
instance.     Well ;  to  which  of  these  two  kinds  of  parables 
does  this  one  of  the  Marriage  Feast,  or  Mar^age  of  the 
King's  Son,   belong  ?      I   answer,   to   neither  of  them, 
according  to  my  judgment.     No  doubt,  at  first  view  it 
might  seem  plainly  enough  to  belong  to  the  class  where 
there  is  a  narrative  of  things  in  ordinary  life ;  and  so  it 
has  been  viewed  accordingly  by  expositors.      But  I  am 
persuaded  that  it  ought  to  be  placed,  along  with  certain 
others,  in  a  third  or  intermediate  class,  where  there  is  no 
narrative  properly  of  things  in  ordinary  life,  embodying 
other  corresponding  things   in   the  spiritual  world,  but 
where  it  is  substantially  the  spiritual  world  alone,  merely 
presented  in  the  graphic  form  of  a  narrative,  and  with 
allusion,  more  or  less,  to  certain  things  of  ordinary  life. 
Certainly,  if  there  is  a  story  of  common  life  here,  it  is  a 
very  extraordinary,  not  to  say  extravagant,  one — as  will 
soon   appear.     And  in   this   case   our   Lord  is   at   least 
continually  breaking  through  the  shell  of  the  narrative, 
and  introducing  circumstances  so  entirely  peculiar  to  the 
spiritual  world,   that  they  never  could,  without  a  great 
deal   of  forcing,  be  imagined   to  have   occurred  in  the 
ordinary  affairs  of  men.     And  thus  does  it  seem  to  my 


TARABLE  OF  THE  MAKUIAGE  I'EAST.  101 

mind  far  hotter  and  safer  to  avoid  all  sncli  forein^^ 
with  all  appearance  of  extravagance  in  the  story,  by 
laying  it  down  at  once,  that  there  is  no  narrative  here 
of  common  life;  bnt  that,  just  as  in  the  Song  of  Solomon, 
f(^r  example,  or  in  the  Forty-fifth  Psalm,  where  (as 
has  always  seemed  clear  to  my  mind  at  least),  it  is  not 
Solomon  and  Christ, — Solomon  hrst,  and  then  Christ, 
but  Christ  alone,  with  simple  allusion,  more  or  less, 
to  Solomon,  so  here  it  is  the  higher  spiritual  marriage, 
and  marriage  feast,  exclusively — onty  presented  in  tlie 
arresting  ^orm  of  a  story,  and  with  more  or  less  allusion 
(slight  allusion,  as  we  shall  find)  to  a  marriage,  and  a 
marriage  feast,  of  earth.  But  all  this,  as  well  as  the 
importance  of  it,  will  come  oiit  as  we  proceed  w^ith  the 
exposition. 

"  The  kingdom  of  heaven."  Our  time  will  not  admit 
of  entering  into  this  great  expression,,  found  in  so 
many  of  the  parables  of  Jesus. -^  ''  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like  unto  a  certain  king,  which  made  a  mariage 
for  his  son."  Now  certainly  we  might  so  far  seem  to 
have  here  just  the  usual  opening  of  an  allegoric  narrative 
of  ordinary  life.  AYe  shall  very  soon  see.  But  niean- 
Avhile,  and  in  either  view,  the  king  evidently  represents  the 
adorable  God,  the  Father,  who,  in  his  matchless  conde- 
scension and  love  to  tlie  children  of  men,  from  everlasting- 
purposed  to  make  a  marriage  for  his  Son, — a  wondrous 
marriage  union  for  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  with  a  count- 
less multitude  of  our  fallen  i-ace.  A.  marriage,  observe, 
for  his  Son.  The  Old  Testament  Scriptures  were  full  of 
a  marriage  relationship  between  the  Church  and  Jehovah. 
Thus,  among  numberless  examples,  "  Thy  Maker  is 
tliine  husband;  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is  his  name."  "I 
will  betroth  thee  unto  me  for  ever  ;  yea,  I  will  betroth 
thee  unto  me  in  righteousness,  and  in  judgment,  and  in 

*  Tt  had  been  taken  up  in  a  previous  leeturc— cne  of  a  series  on 
the  Parabk'S. 


192  PARABLE  OF  THE  MARIIIAGE  FEAST. 

lovlng-liinclness,  and  in  mercies  ;  I  will  even  betrotli  tliee 
unto  me  in  faithfulness."  A  marriage  relationship,  I 
have  said,  between  the  Church  and  Jehovah.  For,  so 
exclusively  was  it  with  Him,  that  whensoever  the  Church 
gave  her  affections  and  homage  to  any  other,  it  was  in  the 
prophets  branded  as  spiritual  adultery,  and  the  sum  of  all 
wickedness  and  sin.  At  once  it  follows  that,  when  we 
come  down  to  the  New  Testament,  and  find  the  marriage 
now  to  be  with  the  So7i  of  the  King, — when  we  find 
the  Church  to  be  the  bride,  the  wife,  of  the  Lamh^ — find 
Jesus  to  be  the  bridegroom,  the  husband — it  follows  that 
Jesus  is  Jehovah,  else  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  are 
two  contrary  religions.  It  follows  at  once  that,  when 
the  King  makes  this  marriage  for  his  Son,  he  does 
not  make  it  for  any  created  being, — any  other  being 
than  Himself, — but  that  this  King  and  his  Son  are 
in  essence  one — distinct  in  certain  grand  respects,  indeed, 
yet  one  essentially, — one  in  the  everlasting  unity  of  the 
Godhead. 

But  now  will  you  notice  that  the  word  rendered  a  mar- 
riage here,  signifies  also  a  marriage  feast,  and  is  indifi'er- 
ently  used,  according  as  the  connection  may  indicate  the 
sense  to  be,  either  for  the  espousals,  or  for  the  feast  at 
which  they  are  celebrated.  And,  accordingly,  in  this 
parable  the  radical  idea  of  the  marriage  passes  into,  and 
is  merged  in,  the  kindred  one  of  the  marriage  feast — 
even  as  the  bride  no  otherwise  appears  here  than  as  the 
guests  at  the  feast,  who  are  the  same  Church  which  is 
the  bride,  under  a  difi'erent  aspect  of  it. 

Yer.  3.  ''And  sent  forth  his  servants  —  A  certain 
king  made  a  marriage  for  his  son,  and  sent  forth  his 
servants  to  call  them  that  were  bidden  to  the  wedding : 
and  they  would  not  come."  It  is  the  first  stage,  this, 
of  a  great  and  solemn  history.  The  reference  is  to  a 
great  historical  fact— now  long  ago  past,  indeed,  but  of 
which  the  principles  abide  unchanged  at  this  hour.     The 


PAYABLE  OF  THE  MAKPIAGE  FEAST.  193 

reference  is  to  the  Jewish  people  of  our  Lord's  day ;  to  tlio 
iuvitatiou  given  them  to  come  to  Jesus, — to  come  to  the 
marriage,  to  tlio  feast ;  and  tlioir  refusal  to  comply  with 
it.    They  are  called  tlm  hidden — "  them  that  were  bidden  " 
— inasmuch  as  long  before,  in  the  Old  Testament  Scrip- 
tures,   they  had    been   invited    to   Christ.       They   had 
been  invited  to  him  there  as  to  the  glorious  Husband, 
in  such  words  as  those  we  sang  and  read  a  little  ago, 
' '  Hearken,  0  daughter,  and  consider,  and  incline  thine 
ear ;    forget   also   thine   own    people,    and    thy   father's 
house  ;  so  shall  the  King  greatly  desire  thy  beauty ;  for  he 
is  thy  Lord,  and  worship  thou  him."    They  had  there  been 
invited  to  him  as  to  a  glorious  feast  of  all  spiritual  bless- 
ings, in  many  such  words  as  those,   ''  In  this  mountain 
shall  the  Lord  of  hosts  make  unto  all  jieople  a  feast  of  fat 
things — Ho,    every  one   that  thirsteth,    come  ye   to  the 
waters — Wisdom    hath    builded    her    house ;    she   hath 
hewn  out  her  seven  pillars ;   she  hath  killed  her  beasts  ; 
she  hath  mingled  her  wine  ;  she  hath  also  furnished  her 
table."     Throughout   all  the  Scriptures  they  had  been 
called  to  believe  on  Messiah,  and  charged  to  hold  them- 
selves in  readiness  to  bid  him  welcome  w^hen  he  should 
appear  on  the  earth.     And  now  that  he  had  appeared, 
the   King   "sent  forth   his  servants"  to  summon  them 
afresh, — to  call  them  more  immediately  to  the  feast.    For 
this  purpose  he  sent  forth  John  the  Baptist.     He  sent  the 
glorious   Bridegroom   himself,  who  condescended  to  be- 
come the  servant  of  the  Father  for  this  end,  and  delivered 
to  them  many  a  blessed  message  of  invitation.    He  sent  the ' 
twelve  for  the  same  purpose,  and  man}^  others.    But,  "they 
would  not  come."     A  mere  handful,  "born,  not  of  blood, 
nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of 
God,"  welcomed  the  invitation.     But  the  mournful  general 
rule  was,   "  He  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received 
him  not — He  was  in  tlie  world,  and  the  world  was  made 
by  him,  and  the  world  knew  him  not — Ye  will  not  come 


194         PARABLE  OF  THE  MAEEIAGE  FEAST. 

to  me  that  ye  might  have  life — 0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem, 
I  would  have  gathered  you;  and  ye  would  not." 

Now  let  me  ask  you  at  this  place  to  notice  that,  sup- 
posing a  story  here  of  things  of  ordinary  life,  embodying 
other  corresponding  things  in  the  spiritual  world,  already 
it  begins  to  seem  a  somewhat  improbable  one.  A  king 
makes  a  marriage  feast  for  his  son,  and  invites  to  it  a 
large  number  of  his  subjects.  It  does  not  seem  very  likely 
that  they  should  in  a  body  decline  the  invitation.  But 
the  improbable  will  presently,  as  I  humbly  think,  become 
the  incongruous,  yea,  extravagant,  when  we  shall  find 
that,  on  the  invitation  being  sent  forth  a  second  time, 
and  by  the  hand  of  other  servants,  not  only  is  it  made 
light  of,  but  the  servants  are  actually  taken,  mocked,  spite- 
fully entreated,  and  murdered,  I  find,  accordingly,  that 
Strauss,  the  German  sceptic,  makes  a  handle  of  this 
incongruity,  to  discredit  the  authenticity  and  genuineness 
of  the  whole  passage,  on  the  ground  that  the  story  in  a 
parable  behoves  to  have  at  least  probability  or  verisimili- 
tude about  it.  And  no  doubt  it  does,  when  there  ^s  a 
story  of  ordinary  life.  But  supposing  the  case  to  be  as  I 
have  put  it,  and  entertain  no  doubt  whatever  that  it 
is,  that  there  is  no  story  of  ordinary  life  here  at  all, — that 
it  is  the  spiritual  world  alone,  only  presented  in  the 
graphic  form  of  a  narrative,  and  with  allusion,  more  or 
less,  to  ordinary  things — then,  what  a  terrible  grandeur 
is  thrown  around  the  whole  passage  by  that  very 
absence  of  verisimilitude  of  which  Strauss  complains ! 
0  yes,  beloved  brethren,  here  is  a  folly,  a  wickedness, 
having  no  parallel,  —  nothing  at  all  resembling  it 
in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  men.  Be  astonished,  0  ye 
heavens,  at  this,  and  be  horribly  afraid ;  be  ye  very  de- 
solate, saith  the  Lord.  The  King  of  kings  makes  a 
marriage  for  his  Son,  and  invites  us  to  be,  not  guests  only 
at  it,  but  the  very  bride  of  that  Son,  and  we  trample 
the  invitation  beneath  our  feet !     I  say  W6',  we^  because, 


PARABLE  OF  THE  MAHRIAGE  FEAST.  1  95 

altlioiig'li  it  is  in  this  verse  a  fact  of  liistory,  the 
principles,  as  I  said,  abide  unchanged  at  this  hour. 
AVe,  all  of  us  by  nature,  are  they  of  whom  that  word  is 
spoken,  *'  Ye  will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye  might  have 
life" — "I  would  have  gathered  you  as  a  hen  gathereth 
her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not." 

But  now  have  we  a  second  stage  of  the  solemn  history 
in  ver.  4:  ''Again,  he  sent  forth  other  servants,  saying, 
Tell  them  which  are  bidden,  Behold,  I  have  prepared  my 
dinner :  my  oxen  and  my  fallings  are  killed,  and  all 
things  are  ready;  come  to  the  marriage."  It  is  here 
the  day  of  Pentecost  anticipated.  It  is  a  sublime  antici- 
pation by  our  Lord  of  all  the  great  and  solemn  things 
which  were  to  be  transacted  betwixt  this  time  and  that 
day — his  crucifixion,  death,  resurrection,  ascension,  and 
the  sending  down  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Father  yearns, 
in  the  bowels  of  a  divine  compassion,  over  his  lost 
sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  He  will  send  the  invitation 
again  to  them,  under  wonderfully  changed  circumstances. 
"He  sent  forth  other  servants."  Partly,  indeed,  they 
were  the  same  apostles.  But,  not  to  S2)eak  of  those  other 
men  who  were  sent  besides — such  as  Stephen,  Philip  the 
Evangelist,  and  many  others — even  the  apostles  might 
well  be  called  "  other  servants,"  as  now  baptized  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  respect  to  the  new  form  of  the 
message  they  were  sent  to  bear.  For  here  it  is,  "  Tell 
them  which  are  bidden,  Behold,  I  have  prepared  my 
dinner."  Formerly  it  was  but  in  course  of  preparation ; 
now  it  is  prepared — '*  I  have  prepared  my  dinner."  Ah, 
touching  words  from  the  lips  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  when  you 
think  what  that  dinner  consisted  of, — when  you  recall 
words  like  those,  "  The  bread  that  I  will  give  is  my  flesh, 
which  I  wiU  give  for  the  life  of  the  world — My  flesh  is 
meat  indeed,  and  ray  blood  is  drink  indeed — .Whoso  eateth 
my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life — Christ 
our  passover  is  sacrificed  for  us  ;  therefore,  let  us  keep 


196  PARABLE  OF  THE  MAEEIAGE  FEAST. 

the  feast."  But  it  is  tlie  Father  who  speaks  here,  ''  I  have 
prepared  my  dinner;"  and  thus  you  might  recall  those 
other  words,  '^  God  spared  not  his  own  Son — It  pleased 
the  Lord  to  bruise  him  ;  he  hath  put  him  to  grief — 
Awake,  0  sword,  against  my  shepherd,  and  against  the 
man  that  is  my  fellow,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  smite  the 
shepherd."  "Behold,  I  have  prepared  my  dinner:  my 
oxen  and  my  fatlings  are  killed."  Ah  !  Mi/  oxen  and  my 
fallings — for  all  the  slain  fatlings  of  the  ancient  economy, 
so  far  as  G-od  ever  knew  them  as  His,  were  in  that  one 
Lamb  slain  !  "  And  all  things  are  ready."  After  the  costly 
pre]3arations  of  four  thousand  years,  all  things  now  are 
ready — forgiveness  is  ready  ;  the  Holy  Ghost  ready;  eter- 
nal life  is  ready — ''  Come  to  the  marriage."  As  I  live,  saith 
the  Lord,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked. 
How  shall  I  give  thee  up,  Ephraim  ?  how  sliall  I  deliver 
thee,  Israel?  how  shall  I  make  thee  as  Admah?  how 
shall  I  set  thee  as  Zeboim  ?  My  heart  is  turned  within 
me,  my  repentings  are  kindled  together — Come,  come  to 
the  marriage  I 

Ay,  all  things  are  ready,  except  one,  alas ! — the  fallen 
heart, — the  carnal  mind,  which  is  enmity  against  God,  and 
is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be. 
*'  But  they  made  light  of  it,"  (verses  5  and  6),  "  and  went 
their  ways,  one  to  his  farm,  another  to  his  merchandise : 
and  the  remnant  took  his  servants,  and  entreated  them 
spitefully,  and  slew  them."  In  these  two  verses  it  is  the 
rejection,  over  again,  of  the  invitation  by  the  Jews — 
one  rejection,  at  bottom,  in  both  verses,  but  under  two 
forms  in  them  respectively — indifference,  hostility, — in- 
difference, contemptuous  disregard ;  and  deep,  murder- 
ous hostility.  Contem^Dtuous  disregard,  *'  They  made 
light  of  it,  and  went  their  waj'S,  one  to  his  farm,  and 
another  to  his  merhcandise," — one  to  the  property  which 
he  had,  and  another  to  the  acquiring  of  a  little  more.  0 
unheard  of  folly,  madness!     So  taken  up  with  a  farm,  and 


PARABLE  OF  THE  MARRIAGE  FEAST.  1  97 

a  shop  of  mercliaiidiso,  that  no  time  is  found  for  heaven 
and  hell, — for  a  lost  or  won  eternity  !  A  farm  and  mer- 
chandise straightway  to  be  left  behind  for  ever,  preferred 
before  a  kingdom,  a  marriage  with  the  King  of  kings, 
a  crown,  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and 
that  fadeth  not  away !  They  made  light  of  it.  Unparal- 
leled this  even  in  hell ;  for  the  devils  at  least  believe  and 
tremble.  But  unheard  of  guilt  also, — criminality !  God's 
highest  grace  and  highest  authority  are  alike  trampled 
under  foot.  God  has  bound  up  with  the  salvation  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus  the  glory  of  all  his  perfections — his 
Wisdom,  Truth,  Eighteousness,  Grace;  and  the  sinner 
treads  them  all  beneath  his  feet  for  liis  gains  and  dust ! 

Well;  the  contemptuous  disregard  is,  as  I  have  said, 
one  and  the  same  rejection,  at  bottom,  with  the  murderous 
hostility.  For  in  such  a  case  indifference  is  hostility.  There 
is  no  possible  medium.  ' '  He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against 
me ;  and  he  that  gathereth  not  with  me,  scattereth  abroad." 
But  it  is  of  high  importance,  practically,  that  we  distinguish 
the  two,  as  they  are  distinguished  here.  Because  we  now 
are  placed  in  circumstances  where  there  is  really  no  room 
for  the  murderous  violence.  And  thus  might  we  suppose 
ourselves  not  to  be  in  the  passage  at  all.  But  we  are  at 
least  in  this  fifth  verse,  ''They  made  light  of  it,  and 
went  their  ways,  one  to  his  farm,  another  to  his  merchan- 
dise." 0  yes,  we,  beloved,  for  all  manner  of  wretched 
things  in  this  world,  do  refuse  Christ,  and  make  light  of 
the  offers  of  his  salvation !  And  now  I  will  only  further, 
on  the  other  verse — "The  remnant  took  his  servants 
and  entreated  them  spitefully,  and  slew  them" — ask  you 
to  observe  how  it  was  very  soon  accomplished  literally, 
when,  for  example,  "  they  stoned  Stephen,  calling  upon 
God,  and  saying.  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit  ;  and 
he  kneeled  down,  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  Lord, 
lay  not  this  sin  to  tlieir  charge":  and  wlien,  a  little 
Avliile  after,  "  Herod  the  king  stretched  forth  his  hands 


198  PARABLE  OF  THE  MARRIAGE  FEAST. 

to  vex  certain  of  the  Cliurcli,  and  killed  James,  the 
brother  of  John,  with  the  sword,  and,  because  he  saw 
it  pleased  the  Jews,  proceeded  further  to  take  Peter 
also  " — and  so  forth. 

But  now  this  second  stage  of  the  history  reaches  its  con- 
summation. Yer.  7.  "  But  when  the  king  heard  thereof,  he 
was  wroth :  and  he  sent  forth  his  armies,  and  destroyed  those 
murderers,  and  burned  up  their  city."  He  was  wroth — 
because  they  robbed  him  of  the  glory  of  shewing  mercy, — 
of  bestowing  on  them  everlasting  life.  Gracious  wrath ! 
and  yet  not  the  less  wrath  on  that  account,  but  rather, 
methinks,  the  more.  Long  had  the  patience  of  God 
waited  for  them.  All  day  long  he  had  stretched  fortii 
his  hands  to  them.  But  they  misunderstood  it.  He  kept 
silence  ;  and  they  thought  that  he  was  altogether  such  an 
one  as  themselves.  Nay,  he  had  not  kept  silence.  In 
accents  of  .unutterable  tenderness  he  had  spoken  to  them. 
But  "  they  despised  the  riches  of  his  goodness,  and  forbear- 
ance and  long-suffering,  and  treasured  uj)  unto  themselves 
wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath."  And  now  that  day  was 
come.  The  old  awful  word  was  fulfilled,  "I  will  meet 
them  as  a  bear  that  is  bereaved  of  her  whelps,  and  there 
will  I  devour  them  like  a  lion" — "The  king  sent  forth 
his  armies,  and  destroj^ed  those  murderers,  and  burned 
up  their  city."  Historically,  this  is  the  Eoman  armies 
under  Titus,  with  the  siege,  destruction,  burning,  of  Jeru- 
salem. *'  His  armies."  The  Koman  armies  were  His 
armies, — the  rod  of  his  anger, — the  staff  in  his  hand. 
Indeed,  he  had  foretold  of  them  fourteen  centuries  before, 
saying,  "  The  Lord  shall  bring  a  nation  against  thee  from 
far,  as  swift  as  the  eagle  flieth  ;  and  he  shall  besiege  thee 
in  all  thy  gates,  until  thy  high  and  fenced  walls  come 
down,  wherein  thou  trustedst."  "  He  sent  forth  his 
armies,  and  destroyed  those  murderers,  and  burned  up 
their  city."  Once  it  was  Jerusalem  **the  city  of  the 
great  King."     But  He  had  forsaken  it,  and  now  it  was 


r.VKABLE  OF  THE  MARRIAGE  FEAST.  199 

their  cit}'.  One  is  rciiiiudod  of  those  words  to  Moses,  after 
tlio  siu  of  tlie  golden  calf,  "  Go,  get  thee  down;  for  thy 
people,  -which  tliou  broughtest  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
have  corrupted  themselves." 

l)Ut  now,  in  the  8th  and  9th  versos,  have  we  a  third 
and  last  stage  in  the  great  history,  reaching  down 
even  to  our  own  day.  "  Then  saith  he  to  his  servants.  The 
wedding  is  ready,  but  they  which  were  bidden  were  not 
worthy.  Go  ye  therefore  into  the  highways"  (or  great  out- 
lets and  thoroughfares,  whether  in  town  or  country),  **  and 
as  many  as  ye  shall  find,  bid  to  the  marriage."  Briefly, 
this  is  the  calling  of  tlia  Gentiles  into  the  Church  and 
Kingdom  of  God,  the  Jews  having  been  cast  out  of  it. 
It  is  that  word,  *'  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature;  "  or  that  word,  "  That  re- 
pentance and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his 
name  among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem ;  "  or 
that  one,  "  The  kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken  from  3'ou, 
and  given  to  a  nation  bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof;" 
or,  most  of  all  perhaps  to  the  purpose,  those  words, 
"  Then  Paul  and  Barnabas  waxed  bold,  and  said.  It  was 
necessary  that  the  word  of  God  should  first  have  been 
spoken  to  you  :  but  seeing  ye  put  it  from  you,  and  judge 
3'ourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life"  (compare  the 
words  before  us,  "They  which  were  bidden  were  not 
worthy.  Go  ye  therefore  into  the  highways,  and  as 
many  as  ye  shall  find,  bid  to  the  marriage"),  "  lo,  we 
turn  to  the  Gentiles;  for  so  hath  the  Lord  commanded 
us,  saying,  I  have  set  thee  to  be  a  light  of  the  Gentiles, 
that  thou  shouldest  be  for  salvation  unto  the  ends  of  the 
earth." 

Then,  in  the  10th  verse,  we  have  the  fulfilment  of  this 
great  commission,  with  the  result — "So  those  servants 
went  out  into  the  highways,  and  gathered  together  all, 
as  many  as  they  found,  both  bad  and  good :  and  the 
wedding  was  furnished  with  guests."     Plainly  this  is  the 


200 


PAEABLE  OF  THE  MARRIAGE  FEAST. 


visible  Cliurcli  of  the  Gentiles.  But  the  question  occurs, 
Where  are  here  those  of  the  Gentiles  corresponding  to  the 
Jews  who  openly  and  avowedly  refused  the  invitation  ?  I 
answer,  that  they  are  not  here  at  all ;  and  for  this  reason, 
that  it  was  the  design  of  our  Lord,  in  this  latter  part  of  the 
parable,  to  present  his  kingdom  under  one  particular 
phase  or  aspect  of  it — even  as,  in  its  outward  or  visible 
character,  it  is  composed  both  of  those  who  are  its  true 
subjects  and  those  who  are  its  subjects  only  in  appear- 
ance and  profession, — composed  of  such  as  are  both  in 
and  of  it,  and  of  such  as  are  in,  but  not  of  it,  and  must 
soon  be  cast  forth  from  it  for  ever.  Only  observe, 
that  the  "bad  and  good,"  in  this  verse,  are  evidently 
not  these  two  classes.  The  expression  does  not  refer 
to  the  false  and  true  subjects  of  the  kingdom,  but  to  the 
varied  condition  of  the  guests  when  the  invitation 
reached  them.  God,  in  other  words,  would  have  the 
invitation  to  be  addressed  to  all  without  exception, — 
to  the  openly  wicked,  as  well  as  the  outwardly  decent  and 
moral.  In  this  respect  there  was  to  be  "no  difference" — 
even  as  "all  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of 
God,"  and  can  be  "justified"  only  "by  his  grace,  through 
the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 

It  is,  however,  in  the  next  verse,  the  11th,  that  this 
distinctive  feature  of  the  latter  part  of  the  j^arable 
comes  most  expressly  out :  "  And  when  the  king  came  in 
to  see  the  guests,  he  saw  there  a  man  which  had  not 
on  a  wedding- garment."  But  the  question  immediately 
suggests  itself.  What  was  there  to  be  wondered  at  in  this, 
or  what  in  it  to  be  blamed  ?  Had  not  the  King  commanded 
the  servants  to  go  out  into  the  highways,  and  bid  as  many 
as  they  should  find  to  the  marriage  ?  0  yes.  But  it  is  mani- 
festly taken  for  granted  that,  though  the  invitation  was  to 
be  given  to  all,  it  was  far  indeed  from  being  the  design  of 
the  King  that  the  marriage  of  his  Son  should  be  degraded 
by  the  presence  of  persons  in    "filthy  ragsj"    and  so, 


TAllABLE  OF  THE  MAURIAGE  FEAST.  201 

that  tlio  invitation  carried  in  its  bosom  tlio  provi- 
sion of  a  garment  in  wliicli  all  invited  ones  might 
fitly  and  -worthily  take  their  place.  And  here  again 
comes  ont  the  importance  of  settling  that  there  is  no 
narrative  of  ordinary  life  hero.  I  find  the  commentators, 
indeed,  labouring  to  make  out  that  in  the  Eastern  feasts 
it  was  the  practice  to  provide  the  guests  with  festival 
garments.  The  evidence,  however,  seems  to  me  but 
scantj'.  All  I  find  about  the  customs  has  simply  brought 
me  to  this,  that  there  was  enough  to  make  it  not  un- 
intelligible to  the  hearers  of  our  Lord,  how,  in  this 
altogether  peculiar  marriage  feast  of  Avhich  he  is  discours- 
ing, the  invitation  should  carry  with  it  such  a  gracious 
provision  and  offer.  And  so,  accordingly,  the  fact  is, 
blessed  for  ever  be  God  !  You  remember  that  great 
word,  for  example,  *'Bythe  deeds  of  the  law  shall  no 
flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight.  But  now  the  righteousness 
of  God  without  the  lav\^  is  manifested,  being  witnessed 
by  the  law  and  the  prophets  ;  even  the  righteousness  of 
God,  which  is  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  unto  all,  and 
upon  all  thorn  that  believe  ;  for  there  is  no  difference." 
Yes,  beloved,  God  is  inviting  every  one  of  us  to  this  won- 
drous marriage.  But  he  will  have  us  come  to  it,  only, 
"  putting  on"  in  the  very  act  "the  Lord  Jesus  Christ," — 
putting  on  that  peerless  robe  He  has  wrought  out  for  us 
in  his  obedience  unto  death, — the  robe  of  which  the 
Church  sings,  "  I  will  greatly  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  my 
soul  shall  be  J03^ful  in  my  God ;  for  he  hath  clothed  me 
with  the  garments  of  salvation,  he  hath  covered  me 
T\ith  the  robe  of  righteousness" — that  glorious  right- 
eousness which  is  in  Christ,  "  The  Loud  our  Higiiteous 
XESS,"  and  which  becomes  ours  in  two  distinct  ways — 
first,  in  that  it  is  imputed  to  us  by  faith  alone;  and,  second, 
in  that,  by  what  one  has  well  called  the  appropriative  and 
assimilative  power  of  faith,  it  carries  with  it  also  a  per- 
sonal and  implanted  righteousness  and  holiness,  so  that,  in 


202 


PAllABLE  OF  THE  MARRIAGE  FEAST. 


one  and  the  same  hour,  we  are  "washed,  and  sanctified, 
and  justified,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the 
Spirit  of  our  Grod." 

But,  ''  a  man" — what  is  this  ?  "  saw  there  a  man."  Are 
there,  then,  but  a  few  such — one  here,  and  one  there  ? 
0  no,  no.  But  the  solemn  thought  is,  that,  among  all 
the  multitudes,  God  deals  as  individually  with  each  as 
if  there  were  but  one ;  and,  further,  that  tliough  there 
were  but  one  in  a  whole  assembly,  God's  eye  would  in- 
stantly find  him  out — "AVhen  the  king  came  in  to  see 
the  guests,  he  saw  there  a  man  which  had  not  on  a 
wedding- garment :  and"  (ver.  12)  *'he  saith  unto  him, 
Friend,  how  camest  thou  in  hither,  not  having  a  wedding- 
garment?"  An  opportunity  is  afi'orded  to  him  of  vindicat- 
ing himself,  if  he  can, — of  affirming,  if  he  dare,  that  he 
had  done  all  in  his  power, — come  as  he  was  invited,  and. 
had  no  means  of  finding  a  wedding-garment.  But,  it  is 
added,  *'  he  was  speechless."  0  terrible  word  !  What 
a  contrast  to  Ezekiel's,  "  That  thou  mayest  remember,  and 
be  confounded,  and  never  open  thy  mouth  any  more  be- 
cause of  thy  shame,  when  I  am  pacified  towards  thee  for 
all  that  thou  hast  done"  !  Here  it  is  that  solemn  word  in 
Samuel,  "He  will  keep  the  feet  of  his  saints,  and  the 
wicked  shall  be  silent  in  darkness."  "  Then  said  the  king 
to  the  servants"  (ver.  13),  "  Bind  him  hand  and  foot,  and 
take  him  away,  and  cast  him  into  outer  darkness ;  there 
shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth."  "  The  king  said 
to  the  servants" — the  angels,  as  we  know — "Bind  him 
hand  and  foot."  In  an  instant  those  hands  which  might 
have  resisted,  and  those  feet  which  might  have  attempted 
to  escape,  are  powerless.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  Can  thine  heart 
endure,  or  thine  hands  be  strong,  in  the  days  that  I  shall 
deal  with  thee  ?  The  sinners  in  Zion  are  afraid ;  fear- 
fulness  hath  surprised  the  hyjDOcrites  !  "  Bind  him  hand 
and  foot,  and  take  him  away."     It  is  the  final  separation 


TAIIABLE  OF  THE  MARRIAGE  FEAST.  203 

from  tlie  Cliiireli, — expulsion  from  tlio  Idiigclom,  of  tlioso 
who  were  in,  but  never  of,  it.  Compare  those  words 
of  another  parabk^,  '*  So  sliall  it  bo  at  the  end  of  the 
worhl :  the  angels  sliall  come  forth,  and  sever  the  wicked 
from  among  the  just;  and  shall  cast  them  into  the  furnace 
of  fire."  Here  it  is,  *'  Cast  him  into  outer  darkness," — 
the  darkness  outside  the  kingdom  of  light, — that  terrible 
darkness,  ''  God  sjtared  not  the  angels  that  sinned,  but 
cast  them  down  to  hell,  and  delivered  them  into  chains  of 
darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto  judgment."  "  Cast  him 
into  outer  darkness ;  there  shall  be  wet^ping  and  gnashing 
of  teeth."  '' Weeping,"  sorrow;  '' gnashing  of  teeth," 
despair — speechless,  helpless,  hopeless  !  *'  For"  (ver.  14) 
"many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen."  Not  "few," 
of  course,  absolutely.  0  no ;  but  few  in  respect  to  the 
many  called.  And  it  is  to  be  further  observed,  that  the 
"  few"  are  placed  here  in  contrast,  not  simply  to  the  class 
of  professors  within  the  kingdom  with  but  a  "name 
that  they  live,"  but  to  all  in  the  parable,  besides,  who  had 
never  even  seemed  to  enter  the  kingdom. 

Beloved  hearers,  unspeakably  momentous  are  the  bear- 
ings of  the  whole  upon  the  character  of  God,  and  the  cha- 
racter also  of  fallen  man.  On  God's  transcendent  Mercy 
— this  marriage,  this  feast,  with  the  imivcrsal  invitation 
to  it ;  but  Mercy,  hand  in  hand  with  omniscient,  burning 
Holiness,  "  How  earnest  thou  in  hither,  not  having  a 
weddin g- garment  ?  "  and  the  destruction, — the  "outer 
darkness,"  the  "weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth!"  On 
the  character  also  of  fallen  man — his  exceeding  folly 
and  wickedness,  having  no  parallel  in  the  things  of 
ordinary  life, — not  admitting  of  being  set  forth  in  any 
idlegoric  narrative  taken  from  them ! 

One  word  only  more.  The  attendants,  it  seems,  incurred 
no  blame  for  the  presence  of  the  man  who  had  not  on  the 
wedding-garment — as  they  must  necessarily  have  done  had 
that  garment   been  anything   outward   or   visible, — had 


204         PARABLE  OF  THE  MARRIAGE  FEAST. 

there,  in  otlier  words,  been  any  narrative  here  of  things 
in  common  life.  The  wedding-garment  here  is  exclusively 
spiritual,  unseen  —  and  man  looketh  on  the  outward 
appearance.  And  so  is  it  that,  in  the  analagous  feast  of 
the  Supper  (soon  to  be  again  celebrated  among  us),  we 
who  are  the  Lord's  servants  will  not  be  blamed  for  receiv- 
ing you  to  it  on  the  footing  of  your  credible  outward 
profession.  Whether  you  have,  or  have  not,  on  the 
wedding-garment — who  are  we  that  we  should  sit  in  judg- 
ment, and  determine  ?  But  God  looketh  on  the  heart. 
All  things  are  naked  and  opened  unto  the  eyes  of  Him 
with  whom  we  have  to  do.  "  When  the  king  came  in  to 
S3e  the  guests,  he  saw  there  a  man  which  had  not  on  a 
wedding-garment."  Lord,  is  it  I  ?  Let  a  man  examine 
himself,  and  so  let  him  eat  of  that  bread,  and  drink  of 
that  cup.  Search  me,  0  God,  and  know  my  heart ;  try 
me,  and  know  my  thoughts ;  and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked 
way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting ! 


XYI. 

CHRIST  »rADE  A  CURSE. 

'*  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  laio, 
being  made  a  curse  for  us :  for  it  is  ivritten,  Cursed  is 
every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree^  Text — "  Christ 
.  .  .  made  a  curse  for  us.'" — Gal.  iii.  13. 

I  AM  desirous  to  examine  with  some  care  along  with 
you  these  great,  awful,  blessed,  words  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
May  the  Lord  vouchsafe  His  own  presence  with  us  while 
we  reverently  together  turn  our  thoughts  to  them ! 

I.  "Christ  made  a  curse."  First  of  all,  I  lay  down 
this  position  as  certain  (however  unlikely  it  might  have 
seemed  to  us  beforehand),  that  the  curse  which  the 
apostle  speaks  of  is  the  curse  of  God, — that  it  is  God's 
curse  which  Paul  says  Christ  was  made,  and  God  himself 
who  made  him  that  curse.  It  is  the  curse  of  God  which 
the  apostle  says  Christ  was  made.  True,  there  was  no  lack 
of  the  cursing  of  this  blessed  One,  in  a  secondary  sense  of 
the  word,  from  other  quarters, — no  lack  of  the  cursing  of 
liim  by  men  and  devils,  in  the  sense  of  maligning,  blas- 
pheming, —  wishing,  calling  him  accursed.  But  Paul 
assuredly  does  not  speak  of  anything  of  that  kind. 
Besides  that  he  says  made, — not  called,  or  wished,  but 
(yi'.o/Mivog)  "  made  a  curse," — see  how  certain  it  is  from  the 
entire  context  that  it  is  the  curse  of  God  which  he  speaks 
of,  and  which  he  says  Christ  was  made.  He  had  begun 
to  speak  of  this  curse  at  the  tenth  verse,  saying,  **  As  many 
as  are  of  the  works  of  the  law  are  under  the  curse  :  for  it 


206  '  CHRIST  MADE  A  CUESE. 

is  written,  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all 
things  which  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do 
them."  Then  in  the  thirteenth  verse,  where  the  text  lies, 
"Christ,"  says  he,  "hath  redeemed  iis  from  the  curse  of 
the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us."  It  is  out  of  the 
question  to  imagine  the  sense  of  the  term  to  be  entirely 
changed  in  this  second  clause.  It  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion to  suppose  the  meaning  now  to  be,  Christ  hath 
redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  having  been 
reviled,  called  accursed,  by  evil  men.  Truly  a  feeble 
curse  it  had  been  that  could  have  been  so  removed! 
Beyond  all  doubt  the  meaning  is,  Christ  hath  redeemed 
us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  having  borne  that  curse, — 
been  made  the  curse  of  the  law  for  us.  If  anything 
further  were  wanting  to  fix  this  down  as  the  meaning, 
it  were  found  in  the  last  clause  of  the  verse,  where  the 
apostle,  citing  in  confirmation  and  illustration  a  passage 
from  the  Pentateuch,  adds,  "  for  it  is  written.  Cursed  is 
every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree."  We  shall  look  at  this 
passage  a  little  more  narrowly  by  and  by.  Meanwhile 
it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  exact  words  in  Deuteronomy 
are,  "  He  that  is  hanged  is  accursed  of  God" — so  that  it  is 
just  as  if  Paul  had  said,  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the 
cui'se  of  the  law,  having  been  made  the  curse  of  it  for  us ; 
for  it  is  written,  he  that  is  hanged  is  accursed  of  God. 

And  then,  as  it  is  God's  curse  which  the  apostle  says 
Christ  was  made,  so  was  it  God  himself  who  made  him 
that  curse.  "Who  else  by  any  possibility  could  ?  Wicked 
men  may  call  or  may  wish  their  fellow-men  accursed,  and 
the  priests  of  an  apostate  Church  may  profess  to  make 
them  so.  But  it  is  a  dream.  God  alone  can  bring  his 
cuise  on  any  man.  And  you  may  only  further  notice  as 
to  this,  that  the  word  "made"  here  is  the  same  the 
apostle  uses  in  the  fourth  verse  of  the  next  chapter, 
"  When  the  fulness  of  the  time  was  come,  God  sent  forth 
his  Son,  made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the  law" — made 


CHRIST  MADE  A  CUKSE. 


207 


by  God,  of  course.  Our  lirst  position  then  is,  tliat  it  is 
tlie  curse  of  God  which  the  apostle  says  Christ  was  made, 
and  God  himself  who  made  him  that  curse. 

II.  But,  secondly,  at  once  the  question  arises,  How 
could  such  a  thing  ever  be  ?  For  the  righteous  God  will 
bring  his  curse  on  no  guiltless  one.  It  may  be  questioned 
whether  lie  will  ever  bring  suffering  of  any  kind  on 
one  absolutely  guiltless.  But  it  is  certain  he  will  not 
bring  his  curse  on  the  guiltless.  Wicked  men  may  curse 
them, — may  wisli,  or  call  them,  accursed.  But,  as  their 
''curse  causeless  shall  not  come,"  so  the  only  possible 
cause  of  the  curse  of  God  is  ill-desert — even  as  we  have 
already  found  it  written,  **  Cursed  is  every  one  that  con- 
tinueth  not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  book  of 
the  law  to  do  them."  But  then,  Christ  was  "  holy,  harm- 
less, undefiled,  separate  from  sinners."  In  his  Divine 
nature  «he  was  the  Holy,  holy,  holy  One  of  Israel.  And 
in  the  humanity  which  he  assumed  he  "  did  no  sin," 
"knew  no  sin."  Yet  does  Paul  say  that  he  was  made  a 
curse, — the  curse  of  God,  and  by  God  himseK  made  that 
curse. 

III.  But  now,  thirdly,  there  was  a  mysterious  manner, 
yet  most  real  and  true,  in  which  Christ  was  not  guiltless, 
— yea,  in  which  he  who  alone  in  all  the  world  was  with- 
out sin  was,  to  speak  with  deepest  reverence,  of  all  guilty 
ones  in  the  world  the  guiltiest.  I  might  remind  you  of 
those  words  of  the  ransomed  Church  in  Isaiah,  "All  wo  like 
sheep  have  gone  astray ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his 
own  way  ;  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of 
us  all."  But  let  us  fix  our  attention  a  little  more  closely 
on  those  words  of  2  Cor.  v.  21,  "  God  made  him  to  be  sin 
for  us,  that  we  miglitbe  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
him."  Made  him  to  he  sin — the  entire  expression  is,  "  made 
him  who  knew  no  sin  to  be  sin  for  us."  !So  much  is  certain, 
therefore,  negatively,  that  the  apostle's  meaning  is  not, 
and  cannot  be,  that  he  was  made  our  sin  in  the  pollution, 


208  CHRIST  MADE  A  CURSE. 

or  stain,  or  turpitude  of  it,  either  in  nature  or   in  life. 
For,  besides  tlie  friglitfulness  of  sucli  a  thing  to  be  even 
imagined,  it  were  in  contradiction  to  the  express  words, 
"He  hath  made  him  who  hiew  no  sin  to  be  sin  for  us." 
Even  as  regards  the  frame  and  constitution  of  the  humanity 
which  the  Son  of  God  assumed,  3'ou  recollect  how  the 
angel  said  to  Mary,   "  The  Holy  Grhost  shall  come  upon 
thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee ; 
therefore  also  that  holy  thing  which  shall  be  born  of  thee 
shall  be  called  the  Son  of  Grod."     But  then,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  apostle  expressly  says,   "He  made  him  to  he 
sin^      And  neither  can  the  meaning  of  this  be,   made 
liim   to   be  a  sufferer.      There   are,  indeed,   evangelical 
expositors  who   understand  the  word  as  meaning  a  sin 
offering.     They  think  it  is  so  used  with  reference  to  the 
language  of  the  Old  Testament,  where  the  term  for  "  sin 
offering"    is    simply   sin — as   in   all   those    directions  of 
the   law,    "he    shall   lay  his  hand  on  the  head  of  the 
sin   offering," — literally,    of    the    sin.      AVell,    I   cannot 
agree  with  this  opinion,  because  it  breaks  the  antithesis 
the  apostle   plainly  designed  to  mark   between  sin  and 
righteousness,  saying,  "  He  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for 
us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
him."     Still   I   do   not   greatly   object   to   this   view    of 
the   expression;    and  it  will    come   to   much   the    same 
result,  provided  it  be  distinctly  borne  in  mind,  that  the 
word  "  sin  offering"  in  the  Old  Testament  is  just  "  sin;" 
and   that   the   reason   doubtless   lies   in  the    mysterious 
manner  in  which  the  victim  became  an  offering  for  the 
sin — even  that  it  had  first  become  the  sin,  as  it  were, — the 
sinner's  guilt  having  been  transferred,  typically,  to  the 
sacrifice — of  which  transference  the  laying  of  the  hand 
on   the  head   of  the   victim   was   the   medium   and  the 
symbol.     Thus,  "Aaron  shall  lay  both  his  hands  upon 
the  head  of  the  goat,  and  confess  over  him  all  the  iniqui- 
ties of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  all  their  transgressions 


CIiniST  MADE  A  cunsE.  209 

ill  all  their  &;iiis,  puttiii<^-  tlioin  upon  the  head  of  tho  goat." 
So  that  the  question  remains  just  as  before,  ^vhat  that  sin 
was  which  was  transferred  (now  no  longer  typically,  but 
truly)  to  the  glorious  Victim, — the  "sin"  which  the 
apostle  says  Christ  ''was  made."  It  could  not  be  the 
pollution,  tho  tui-pitiido,  on  the  one  hand  ;  it  was  not  the 
suffering  simply,  on  the  other.  But  there  was  a  great 
intermediate  element  between  the  turpitude  and  the  suffer- 
ing; and  this  it  was  that  Christ  was  made  in  the  whole 
fearful  reality  of  it — even  the  guilt  (the  reatiis,  as  the  Latins 
spoke), — the  just  liability  in  law,  and  in  the  eye  of  the 
lawgiver,  to  endure  the  suffering,  the  punishment,  the 
curse.  For  Christ,  by  an  altogether  peculiar  Divine  con- 
stitution— of  infinite  grace  alike  on  the  Father's  part  and 
on  his  own— had  become  the  Head  of  his  body  the  Church, 
— taken  their  place  in  law, — become  one  with  them  in 
law  for  ever.  Eead  again,  for  instance,  that  fourth 
verse  of  the  following  chapter,  "  When  the  fulness  of  the 
time  was  come,  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of  a  woman, 
made  under  the  law  " — under  the  law  ?  But  what  could 
the  Son,  the  very  Lawgiver,  have  to  do  with  subjection 
to  the  law  ?  Nothing,  assuredly,  for  himself, — nothing 
save  as  a  public  Person,  Surety,  Itcpresentative.  But 
having,  in  the  act  of  taking  our  nature,  taken  this  charac- 
ter also,  he  did  thus  become  truly  and  justly  chargeable 
before  the  Divine  tribunal  with  the  whole  iniquities  of  his 
people.  Thus  did  he,  to  speak  with  profoundest  reverence, 
deserve  and  behove  to  endure  the  Divine  curse — due 
to  the  blasphemies  and  persecutions  of  Saul ;  to  the 
aggravated  denials  of  Peter ;  to  the  crimes  of  the  thief 
who  hung  on  the  cross  beside  him — to  the  unnumbered 
iniquities  of  all  who  shall  be  saved  by  him  to  the  end  of 
the  world.  *'  God  made  him  to  be  sin,"  and  so  made,  and 
could  not  but  make  him,  to  be  "  a  curse  for  us,"  that  we 
might  be  redeemed  from  the  curse  of  the  law. 

And  now  turn  we  for  a  moment  to  the  passage  cited  by 

o 


210  CHRIST  MADE  A  CUllSE. 

tlie  apostle  from  the  Pentateucli.  Let  no  one  be  startled 
in  the  reading  of  it.  Let  ns  rest  well  assured  that  Paul 
cites  no  Scripture  inaccurately,  and  thus  be  well  assured 
that,  when  God  inspired  Moses  to  write  the  words,  he  had 
his  beloved  Son  in  his  eye ;  and  that  what  might  at  first 
view  seem  to  be  the  degradation  of  Christ,  will  in 
the  end  be  found  to  be  equally  to  his  glory  and  our  salva- 
tion. It  is  the  twenty-first  of  Deuteronomy,  the  twenty- 
second  and  twentj^- third  verses — "If  a  man  have  com- 
mitted a  sin  worthy  of  death,  and  he  be  to  be  put  to 
death,  and  thou  hang  him  on  a  tree ;  his  body  shall  not 
remain  all  night  iipon  the  tree,  but  thou  shalt  in  any  wise 
bury  him  that  day,  (for  he  that  is  hanged  is  accursed  of 
Grod;)  that  thy  land  be  not  defiled,  which  the  Lord  thy 
Grod  giveth  thee  for  an  inheritance."  Too  many  exposi- 
tors, Protestant  as  well  as  Pomanist,  have  tortured  the 
apostle's  words  in  our  text,  to  evade  the  plain  sense  of 
the  statement,  "  Christ  was  made  a  curse  for  us ;"  and  as 
for  the  citation  from  Deuteronomy,  they  in  effect  venture 
simply  to  deny  the  applicability  of  it  to  Christ,  entering 
into  formal  proof  (of  what  surely  is  too  evident  to 
require  any),  that  Moses  is  speaking  of  thieves  and  other 
notorious  criminals;  hence  concluding  that  the  passage 
can  have  no  possible  application  to  Him  who  was  holy, 
harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sinners.  Ah !  they  are 
blind  to  what  is  the  very  soul  and  glory  of  the  gospel, 
that  Christ,  in  a  mysterious  sense,  yet  most  real,  ivas 
the  guiltiest  of  all, — that  the  Lord  did  verily  lay  on 
him  the  unnumbered  iniquities  of  his  people — not  their 
punishment  only,  but  their  iniquities  first,  and  then  their 
punishment,  their  curse.  As  Luther  speaks,  "We  must 
as  well  wrap  Christ,  and  know  him  to  be  wrapped,  in  our 
sins,  in  our  malediction,  in  our  death,  and  in  all  our  evils, 
as  he  is  wrapped  in  our  flesh  and  blood."  "  God  sent  him 
into  the  world,  saying  to  him.  Be  thou  Peter,  that  denier ; 
be  thou  Paul,  that  persecutor,  blasphemer,  cruel  oppressor; 


CniUST  MADE  A  cunsE.  211 

be  thou  David,  that  adulterer  ;  bo  tliou  that  sinner  who  ate 
the  apple  in  paradise  ;  be  thou  that  thief  that  hung  on  the 
cros?."  **  If  thou  wilt  deny  him  to  be  a  sinner  and  accursed, 
deny  also  that  ho  was  crucified  and  dead.  For  it  is  no  less 
absurd  to  say,  that  the  Son  of  God  (as  our  faith  confesseth 
and  believeth)  was  crucified  and  suffered  the  pains  of  sin 
and  of  death,  than  to  say  that  he  is  a  sinner  and  accursed. 
But  if  it  be  not  absurd  to  confess  and  believe  that  Christ 
was  crucified  between  two  thieves,  then  it  is  not  absurd  to 
say  also  that  he  is  accursed,  and  of  all  sinners  the  greatest. 
These  words  of  Paul  are  not  spoken  in  vain,  *  Christ  was 
made  a  curse  for  us.'  *  God  made  Christ  who  knew  no 
sin  to  be  sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  in  him.'  " 

TV.  Fourthly,  thus  have  we  the  wondrous  explanation 
of  the  whole  life  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  otherwise 
were  an  inexplicable  enigma.  For,  when  we  look  at  the 
Saviour's  life  on  earth,  we  are  at  once  struck  with  this 
amazing  fact,  that  there  was  but  one  man  who  ever 
trode  that  earth,  and  never  defiled  it  l^y  sin, — one  only 
who  ''  always  did  the  things  which  pleased  the  Father ;  " 
and  3'et  that  that  Father,  "  the  righteous  Lord  who  loveth 
righteousness,"  was  so  far  from  exempting  him  from 
those  sufferings  which  are  the  fruit  of  sin,  that  from  his 
birth  onwards  to  his  death  on  the  accursed  tree,  "it 
pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  him,  and  to  jiut  him  to  grief." 
Even  had  his  sufferings  i)roceeded  simply  from  the  hands 
of  men  and  devils,  the  mystery  would  not  have  been 
removed,  since  neither  devils  nor  men  could  be  more 
than  instruments — voluntary  and  guilty,  j'ct  only  instru- 
ments— in  the  hand  of  Jehovah  for  the  executing  of  his 
designs.  But  the  fact  unfjuestionably  was,  that  the  prin- 
cipal sufferings  of  this  Just  One  came  from  the  immediate 
hand  of  the  Father  himself.  It  is  impossible  to  read  the 
gospel  histories  without  perceiving,  that  by  far  his  deepest 
afjTonies  were  those  which  he  endured  when  there  was  no 


212  en  HI  ST  MADE  A  CURSE. 

hand  of  man  upon  him  at  all,  or  when,  at  least,  he  himself 
traces  the  suffering  to  another  hand  altogether — saying,  for 
example,  "  Now  is  my  soul  troubled  ;  and  what  shall  I  sa}-? 
Father,  save  me  from  this  hour ;  but  for  this  cause  came 
I  unto  this  hour" — "My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful, 
even  unto  death ;  tarry  ye  here  and  watch  with  me  " — 
"0  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from 
me  " — "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?" 
Ah!  behold  the  explanation  of  all, — of  the,  travail  of 
Messiah's  soul,  —  of  an  agony  that  wrung  the  blood 
from  every  pore  of  his  sacred ,  body,' — of  what  he  himself 
declared  to  be  his  own  Father's  desertion  of  him — see, 
not  the  source  of  it  only,  but  the  soul  also  of  its  deepest 
bitterness  and  anguish,  in  these  words,  7nade  sin,  vtade 
a  curse, — not  accursed  simply,  but— as  if  all  the  curses 
due  to  a  world's  sin  had  been  made  to  meet  in  his  per- 
son— "  made  a  curse,^^  that  we  might  be  redeemed  from 
the  curse  of  the  law  ! 

y.  Fifthly,  there  are  certain  great  central  things 
among  the  types  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  cast  much 
light  over  the  mysterious  fact  in  our  text,  and,  in  their  turn, 
receive  important  light  from  it.  Let  me  select  three — the 
brazen  serpent,  the  burnt  offering,  and  the  sin  offering. 

The  brazen  serpent.  At  first  view  it  seems  very 
strange,  that  the  chosen  t^^pe  of  the  blessed  Eedeemer 
should  have  been  the  likeness  of  a  serpent, — that,  when 
the  Israelites  were  dying  of  the  bite  of  serpents,  the 
medium  of  their  cure  should  have  been  the  likeness  of 
one,  "Make  thee  a  fiery  serpent,  and  set  it  upon  a  pole; 
and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  every  one  that  is  bitten, 
when  he  looketh  upon  it,  shall  live."  But  the  wonder 
ceases,  or  rather  is  turned  into  another  wonder  of  holy 
admiration,  when  we  find  that  the  only  possible  way  of 
our  deliverance  from  sin,  was  the  Redeemer's  taking  it, 
in  its  whole  guilt  and  curse,  into  his  own  person, — being 
made  sin  and  a   curse  for  us.      What  glorious   light   is 


CHRIST  MADE  A  CUUSE.  213 

thus  cast  on  tlio  words  of  Jesus,  "As  Moses  lifted  up  Iho 
serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of  man  be 
lifted  up ;  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  eternal  life !  " 

Then  the  burnt-offering.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  fire 
of  all  the  burnt-offerings  of  the  law,  whether  it  came  down 
immediately  from  heaven  to  consume  the  victim,  as  on 
various  memorable  occasions,  or  was  kindled  naturally, 
was  the  emblem  of  the  Divine  holiness  and  justice,  con- 
suming the  substitute  lamb  on  which  the  sin  had  been  laid, 
— tlie  sacrifice  in  place  of  the  sinner.  What  a  picture  of 
Christ  made  a  curse,  enduring  the  fire  of  "the  wrath  of 
God  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  ungodliness  and  un- 
rigliteousness  of  men  !  "  What  a  picture  of  the  prophet's 
"  Awake,  0  sword,  against  my  shepherd,  and  against  the 
man  that  is  my  fellow,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  smite  the 
shepherd!"  What  a  picture  of  Him  who  cried,  "My 
lieart  is  like  wax ;  it  is  melted  in  the  midst  of  my  bowels. 
My  strength  is  dried  up  like  a  potsherd  ;  and  my  tongue 
cleaveth  to  my  jaws;  and  thou  hast  brought  me  into  the 
dust  of  doatiri  " 

And  lastly  the  sin-offering.  Let  these  words,  for 
example,  be  carefully  observed  (Lev.  xvi.  27,  28),  "The 
bullock  for  the  sin-offering,  and  the  goat  for  tlie  sin- 
offering,  whose  blood  was  brought  in  to  make  atone- 
ment in  the  holy  place,  shall  one  carry  forth  without  the 
camp ;  and  they  shall  burn  in  the  fire  their  skin,  and 
their  flesh,  and  their  dung.  And  he  that  burnetii  them 
shall  wash  his  clothes,  and  bathe  his  flesh  in  water,  and 
afterward  he  shall  come  into  the  camp."  That  is  to  sa}^ 
the  victim,  as  having  had  the  whole  iniquities  transferred 
to  it  by  the  laying  of  the  hand  upon  its  head,  had  become 
an  unclean  and  accursed  thing,  and  so  behoved  to  be 
carried  away  out  of  God's  siglit  witliout  the  camp,  and 
consumed  in  the  fire.  This  is  what  our  apostle  refers 
to   in  those   words   in  Hebrews,    "  The  bodies   of  those 


214  CUEIST  MADE  A  CUESE. 

beasts,  whose  blood  for  sin  is  brought  into  tlie  sanctuary 
by  the  high,  priest,  are  burned  without  the  camp.  Where- 
fore Jesus  also,  that  he  might  sanctify  the  people  with  his 
own  blood,  suffered  without  the  gate."  As  if  to  say  that 
when  God  appointed  the  sin-offerings  of  the  law  to  be 
carried  forth  outside  the  camp  as  unclean  and  accursed, 
and  to  be  burned  in  the  fire,  it  was  but  a  figure  of  our 
Lord  Jesus,  laden  with  our  accursed  inic[uities,  made  sin 
and  a  curse,  numbered  with  the  transgressors,  dealt  with 
as  the  vilest  of  all — not  by  man  so  much  as  by  God,  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel — because  the  Lord  had,  with  his  own 
most  free  consent,  made  to  meet  on  him  the  iniquities  of 
us  all.  When  Jesus  was  led  forth  out  of  Jerusalem,  and 
there  crucified  between  the  thieves,  it  was  as  if  all  the 
innumerable  multitudes  of  sinners  whom  he  represented 
had  been  in  that  hour  carried  out,  and  had  there  endured, 
in  their  own  persons,  the  curse  of  the  Divine  law  due  to 
their  whole  ungodliness,  unrighteousness,  pride,  false- 
hood, vanity,  uncleanness,  rebellion,  and  I  know  not 
what  other  crimes  and  sins.  Writes  Dr  Owen  in  his 
treatise  on  the  Divine  Justice,  *' Unless  God,  the  judge 
and  ruler  of  all,  after  having  thoroughly  examined  the 
nature,  hearts,  breasts,  ways,  and  lives  of  us  all,  had 
thence  collected  whatever  was  contrary  to  his  law,  im- 
proper, unjust,  and  impure, — whatever  displeased  the 
eyes  of  his  purity,  provoked  his  justice,  roused  his  anger 
and  severit}^, — and  laid  it  all  on  the  shoulders  of  our  Ee- 
deemer,  and  condemned  it  in  his  flesh,  it  had  been  better 
for  us,  rather  than  to  be  left  eternally  entangled  in  the 
snares  of  death  and  of  the  curse,  never  to  have  enjoyed 
this  common  air,  but  to  have  been  annihilated  as  soon  as 
born.  Wretched  men  that  we  are,  who  shall  deliver  us 
from  this  most  miserable  state  by  nature  ?  *  Thanks  be 
to  God  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.'  " 

YI.  But  thus  I  observe,  once  more,  that  we  do  not  get 


CHRIST  MADE  A  CURSE.  2  1  o 

at  the  full  explanation  of  tlio  mysterious  fact  in  onr  text, 
till  we  have  taken  into  view  the  wondrous  design  and  issue 
of  all,  as  set  forth  in  the  passage  thus — "  Christ  hath 
redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a 
curse  for  us,  that  the  blessing  of  Abraham  might  come  on 
the  Gentiles  through  Jesus  Christ ;  that  Ave  might  receive 
the  promise  of  the  Spirit  through  faith."  It  is  a  very 
serious  mistake,  too  frequently  committed,  to  suppose  that 
the  chief  diiliculty  that  lay  in  the  way  of  our  salvation  was 
the  desperate  corruption,  ungodliness,  of  these  hearts  of 
ours.  God  forbid  I  should  underrate  this  difficulty.  It 
was  one  which  nothing  short  of  omnipotence  could  over- 
come. But  omnipotence  could  overcome  it.  Viewing 
the  inward  princijile  of  our  corruption  by  itself,  the 
Almighty  God  could  have  made  an  end  of  it  by  his  Jiat. 
But  there  was  another  difficulty  which  not  even  omni- 
l^otonce  could  overcome,  because  mere  power  could  have 
no  application  to  it.  I  mean  the  sentence,  the  curse, 
of  the  divine  law,  which  had  gone  forth  against  us.  As 
Paul  speaks  elsewhere,  *'  The  sting  of  death  is  sin,  and  the 
strength  of  sin  is  the  law."  There  lay,  as  it  were,  over  the 
mouth  of  the  grave  of  our  corruption  a  stone,  which  even 
the  Divine  power  could  not  remove,  so  as  to  reach  down 
to  the  corruption  to  make  an  end  of  it.  But  that  stone, 
immoveable  as  to  all  mere  power,  melted  like  wax  before 
the  fire  of  the  expiatory  sacrifice  of  Emmanuel — "  Christ 
hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made 
a  curse  for  us."  And  now,  not  only  are  we  thus 
delivered  from  the  law's  terrible  sentence,  but — the  stone 
which  lay  over  the  grave  of  our  corruption  once  removed 
— the  way  is  open  for  the  Holy  Ghost's  descending  into  it 
to  make  an  end  of  our  corruption  too, — yea,  open  for  the 
whole  blessing  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  *'  I  wiU  be  a 
God  to  thee,"  coming  on  believers  everywhere,  of  the 
Gentiles  and  of  the  Jews  alike  — from  which  blessing  the 
apostle  singles  out  the  promise  of  the  Iloly  Ghost,  as 


216  CHRIST  MADE  A  CURSE. 

being  the  centre  and  sum  of  it  all,  saying,  ''Christ  hath 
redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  &c.,  that  the 
blessing  of  Abraham  might  come  on  the  Gentiles  through 
Jesus  Christ,  that  we  might  receive  the  promise  of  the 
Si^irit  through  faith."  Ah!  they  speak  of  difficulties  at- 
tending the  literal  sense  of  the  apostle's  statement, 
"  Christ  made  a  curse."  But  it  is  the  solution, — the 
only  and  all-glorious  solution,  of  difficulties  unutterably 
greater — even  the  entire  difficulties  of  our  lost  condition, 
as,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  estranged  and  alienated 
from  God,  and  subject  to  the  sentence  of  his  immutable 
law,  "  the  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die." 

Three  words  in  conclusicn. 

1.  The  apostle,  in  the  opening  chapter  of  this  epistle, 
speahs  of  "  another  gospel,  which  is  not  another."  Very 
rife  in  our  day  is  another  gospel,  which  truly  is  not 
another  gospel.  Substantially  it  is  this,  that  God  never  has 
had  a  quarrel  with  man,  but  only  man  a  quarrel  with 
God. — that  God  never  has  been  angry  with  men,  but 
men  only  jealous  of  Him;  and  that  the  whole  design  of 
Christ's  coming  into  the  world,  and  of  his  suffering  unto 
death,  was  to  convince  men  of  this — who,  as  soon  as  they 
are  persuaded  to  believe  it, — to  believe  that  God  loves 
them,  and  has  loved  them  always,  are  saved.  Another 
gospel  truly — which  in  fact  turns  the  whole  mission  and 
work  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  into  an  unreality !  But 
see  the  apostle's  gospel  in  verses  10,  13,  14  of  this  chap- 
ter. Yer.  10,  God's  quarrel  with  guilty  men — "As  many 
as  are  of  the  works  of  the  law  are  under  the  curse  ;  for  it 
is  written,  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all 
things  which  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do 
them."  Then,  the  wondrous  settlement  of  that  quarrel, 
ver.  13,  *'  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the 
law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us."  And  hence  the  settlement 
of  our  vile  quarrel  also  with  God,  ver.  14,  "  that  the  bless- 
ing of  Abraham  might  come  on  the  Gentiles  through  Jesus 


CHRIST  MADE  A  CURSE. 


21 


Clirist;  tliat  uo  mig-lit  receive  tlio  promise  of  tlio  Spirit 
through  faitli."  Now  at  length  a  conscience  purged,  and 
righteously  purged,  from  dead  works,  to  serve  the  living 
God !  Now  all  possible  motives,  of  love,  and  fear,  and 
gratitude,  and  hope,  and  joy,  unto  a  new  and  cliikl-like 
obedience  !  "0  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant ;  I  am  thy 
servant,  and  the  son  of  thine  handmaid  :  thou  hast  loosed 
my  bonds." 

2.  Behold  here  tlie  very  soul  of  the  Lord's  Supper,^* 
which  niiglit  liave  for  its  motto,  "  Christ  hatli  jcdc'cnied  us 
from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us" — 
"  This  is  my  body  broken  for  you  :  this  cup  is  my  blood 
of  the  new  covenant,  shed  for  remission  of  tlie  sins  of 
many."  Oh  for  a  profound  self-abasement,  and  fervent 
love,  and  lively  faith,  in  the  observing  of  it !  A  profound 
abasement  for  sins  which  could  be  removed  from  us  only 
by  Christ's  joining  them  to  himself,  and  becoming  a  curse 
for  us.  And  fervent  love  to  Him  mIio,  at  sucli  a  cost,  and 
on  such  conditions,  submitted  to  become  our  Eedeemer. 
And  lively,  appropriating  faith — as  Lutlier  was  wont  to 
speak,  "  0  Lord  Jesus,  I  am  thy  sin,  thy  curse,  tliy  death, 
thy  wrath  of  God,  thy  hell ;  and  contrariwise,  thou  art  my 
ligliteousness,  my  blessing,  my  life,  my  grace  of  God,  and 
my  heaven !  " 

3.  Be  it  well  known  to  all,  that  we  become  partakers 
of  this  whole  redemption  by  faith  alone  without  the  deeds 
of  the  law.  If  we  are  not  believers,  then  we  arc 
strangers  to  it — for,  "  as  many  as  are  of  the  works  of  the 
law  are  under  the  curse."  But  simply  by  faitli  do  wo 
become  partakers  of  it.  Purchased  at  the  cost  of  the 
►Saviour's  blood,  it  is  offered  to  us  without  a  price.  "  It 
is  of  faith,  that  it  miglit  be  by  grace."  God  will  have 
us  to  be  debtors  eternally  to  his  absolute  mercy.  If  wo 
will  not  consent  to  this,  then  must  we  be  monuments 

*  The  Discourse  was  preached  in  immediate  prospect  of  tliis 
ordinance. 


2  1  8  CHRIST  MADE  A  CURSE. 

of  Ms  justice  tliroiigli  eternal  ages ;  and  those  solemn 
words  of  Jesus  come  into  view,  "  If  tliey  do  these  things 
in  a  green  tree,  what  shall  be  done  in  the  dry?  "  If  the 
everlasting  Son  of  the  Father  was  made  a  curse,  and  it 
pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  Him  and  to  put  Him  to 
grief,  when  bearing  the  sins  of  others,  what  shall 
become  of  the  sinner  who  shall  have  to  bear  his  own  ? 
— "  what  shall  the  end  be  of  them  that  obey  not  the 
gospel  of  God  ?  "  ''  How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so 
great  salvation?" 

Meanwhile,  it  is  among  us  as  when  the  Israelites  were 
on  every  side  dying  in  the  wilderness,  and  God  said  unto 
Moses,  Make  thee  a  fiery  serpent,  and  set  it  upon  a  pole  : 
and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  every  one  that  is  bitten, 
when  he  looketh  upon  it,  shall  live.  Even  so  hath  the 
Son  of  man  been  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life.  *'Be  it 
known  unto  you,  men  and  brethren,  that  through  this 
man  is  preached  unto  you  the  forgiveness  of  sins ;  and 
by  him,  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things,  from 
which  ye  could  not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses." 


XYII. 

WAITING  FOR  THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  FATHER. 

**  And,  heinrj  assembled  together  with  them,  com- 
manded them  that  they  should  not  depart  from  Jeru- 
salem, but  tea  it  /or  the  promise  of  the  Father,  which, 
saith  he,  ye  have  heard  of  ??ie." — Acts  i.  4.  Text — 
^^  He  commanded  them  that  tliey  ....  should  ivait 
for  the  promise  of  the  Father.  ^^ 

A  YEP.Y  cloep  interest  attaclios  to  tliis  commandment, 
from  whatever  point  of  view  it  is  regarded.  It  was 
given  by  the  Lord  in  one  of  his  last  interviews  with  the 
Apostles,  just  before  he  was  taken  up,  and  the  cloud  re- 
ceived him  out  of  their  sight.  About  the  same  time 
he  commanded  them  to  "go  and  teacli  all  nations,"  — 
to  "go  into  all  the  world  and  preacli  the  gospel  to  every 
creature."  But  the  commandment  of  the  text  was  to  take 
the  precedence  of  all  else ;  for  they  were  not  to  depart 
from  Jerusalem  until  they  had  *'  waited  "  there  "  for 
the  promise  of  the  Father."  Their  compliance  with 
this  command  was  to  be  the  inaugurating  of  a  new  era 
in  the  history  of  tlie  Church  of  God,  whicli  sliould  cast 
the  glory  of  all  previous  epoelis  into  the  shade.  With 
their  fulfilling  of  tlio  command  to  "wait  for  tlio  promise 
of  tlie  Fatlier,"  tlie  whole  conversion  of  the  world  was  to 
be  bound  up.  And  further  still,  although  the  command- 
ment belonged,  in  some  minor  aspects  of  it,  to  those  first 
disciples   alone,  yet,   in   the   soul    and   substance   of  it, 


220  -WAITING  FOP.  THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  FATHER. 

it  is  the  comnion  precious  inheritance  of  the  Chnrch 
in  every  age — as  will  come  out  more  fully  while  we  look 
at  the  following  particulars  : — first,  that  for  which  the 
disciples  were  commanded  to  wait ;  second,  the  import  of 
their  waiting  for  it;  and,  third,  the  commandment  to  wait 
— "he  commanded  them  that  they  should  wait  for  the 
promise  of  the  Father."  Oh  that  that  adorable  Spirit  of 
whom  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  throughout,  may 
vouchsafe  to  direct  and  bless  us  ! 

I.  And  first,  notice  what  the  disciples  were  commanded 
to  wait  for — "  the  promise  of  the  Father,"  that  is  to  say, 
of  course,  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise, — not  the  ]Dromise 
of  the  thing,  but  the  thing  itself  promised.  And  what 
was  that?  and  why  is  it  called  emphatically,  ^Hhe  promise 
of  the  Father?"  You  knovf  what  it  was, — that  it  was 
the  efi'usion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  it  follows  here  expressly, 
"the  promise  of  the  Father,  which,  saith  he,  ye  have 
lieard  of  mo  ;  for  John  truly  baptized  with  water ;  but 
ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  not  many  days 
hence." 

Not  that  the  Spirit  of  God  had  been  absent  at  any 
time  from  the  Church.  There  could  be  no  Church,  worthy 
of  the  name,  without  the  Holy  Ghost.  "We  find  David 
again  and  again  praying,  "  take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit 
from  me" — "uphold  me  with  thy  free  Spirit" — "thy 
Spirit  is  good ;  lead  me  into  the  land  of  uprightness." 
But  then,  besides  that  the  Spirit's  presence  with  the 
Church  had  from  the  beginning  only  been  in  virtue  of 
Christ's  prospective  obedience  unto  death — now  that  he 
had  died,  finishing  the  work  of  redemption,  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  to  be  given  on  a  scale  so  new, — given  so  much  more 
copiously  and  extensively,  that  we  find  those  remarkable 
words  in  one  of  the  Gospels,  "this  spake  he  of  the  Spirit 
which  they  that  believe  on  him  should  receive ;  for  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  given,  because  that  Jesus  was 
not  yet  glorified."       "  He  commanded  them  that   they 


"^'AITIXG  FOR  THE  TIIOMISS  OF  TIIC  FATHER.  221 

slioultl  wait  for  the  promise  of  the  ratlicr,  which,  miln 
he,  ye  have  heard  of  w^-."  Tims  wo  arc  sent  back,  if  we 
will  learn  more  siiecilically  wliat  tlio  tiling  to  be  waited 
for  was,  to  the  great  words  of  Jesus  before  his  death, 
'•The  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the 
Father  will  send  in  my  name,  lie  shall  teach  you  all 
things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance,  what- 
soever I  have  said  unto  you" — "When  the  Comforter  is 
come,  whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from  the  Fatlier,  even 
the  xSpirit  of  truth,  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  he 
shall  testify  of  me  ;  and  ye  also  shall  bear  witness  " — 
"  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away  :  for  if  I  go  not 
away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you  ;  but  if  I 
depart,  I  will  send  him  unto  you.  And  when  he  is  come, 
he  will  reprove  [convince]  the  world  of  sin,  and  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment  " — "He  shall  glorify  me" 
— "He  will  guide  you  into  all  truth" — "He  shall  re- 
ceive of  mine  and  show  it  unto  you."  "  He  commanded 
them  that  they  should  wait  for  the  promise  of  the  Father." 
They  were  to  wait  for  the  Holy  Ghost  with  reference  to 
all  those  blessed  ends  and  offices, — to  wait  for  him,  not 
only  to  advance  mightily  the  whole  work  of  grace  within 
their  own  souls,  but  to  prepare  and  furnish  them  every 
^vay  for  the  discharge  of  their  great  commission  to  the 
"world  lying  in  the  wicked  one,"  and  to  render  the 
discharge  of  it  effectual  for  the  turning  of  men  every- 
where from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God. 

But  the  further  question  arises,  why  Christ  calls  this 
emphatically,  "  the  promise  of  the  Father,"  as  if  he  had 
never  given  another  promise  beside — and  so  in  Luke, 
"behold,  I  send  the  promise  of  my  Father  ujion  you." 
Undoubtedly  the  expression  points,  in  general,  to  the 
large  and  central  place  which  the  promise  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  occupied  iu  the  scriptures  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment,  the  Father's  word.     It  was   the  promise   of  the 


222  WAITIK-G  FOR  THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  FATHER. 

Father  in  a  very  eminent  manner  in  those  Scriptures, 
wherever  treating  of  the  times  of  Christ  and  of  the 
gospel.  Thus,  to  give  an  instance  or  two:  "It  shall 
come  to  pass  in  the  last  days  that  I  will  pour  out  of  my 
Spirit  upon  all  flesh" — "  Uj^on  the  land  of  my  people 
shall  come  up  thorns  and  briers  .  .  .  until  the  Spirit  be 
poured  upon  us  from  on  high,  and  the  wilderness  be  a 
fruitful  field,  and  the  fruitful  field  be  counted  for  a  forest " 
—  "I  will  pour  water  ujDon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods 
upon  the  dry  ground ;  I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy 
seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring;  and  they 
shall  spring  up  as  among  the  grass,  as  willows  by  the 
water-courses" — "I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David, 
and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  Spirit  of  grace 
and  of  supplications  ;  and  they  shall  look  upon  me  whom 
they  have  pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for  him " — 
"  Son  of  man,  can  these  bones  live  ?  .  .  .  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  God,  Come  from  the  four  winds,  0  breath,  and 
breathe  upon  these  slain  that  they  may  live.  ...  I  will 
put  my  Spirit  within  you,  and  you  shall  live" — "  As  for 
me,  this  is  my  covenant  with  them,  saith  the  Lord ;  my 
Spirit  that  is  upon  thee,  and  my  words  which  I  have  put 
in  thy  mouth,  shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor  out 
of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy 
seed's  seed,  saith  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  and  forever." 
''  The  promise  of  the  Father."  Jesus,  delighting  ever  to 
regard  the  Scriptures  as  his  Father's  word,  has  in  his  eye 
the  central  place  which  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Grhost 
had  occupied  in  them — "  behold,  I  send  the  promise  of 
my  Father  upon  you." 

But  the  expression  doubtless  tells,  in  close  connection 
with  this,  of  the  peculiar  preciousness,  and  all-compre- 
hensive character,  of  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost — as 
inclusive  in  fact,  of  all  the  Father's  j^romises  and  gifts 
together,  flowing  in  the  channel  of  the  Mediator's  death. 
It  was  the  promise  of  the  Father,  as  if  he  had  never  given 


'\7AITIX0  FOR  THE  TEOMISE  OF  THE  FATHER.  22-'"! 

aiiolLer  beside,  because  it  carried  every  other  alonp^  witli 
it.     It  was  just  as  in  those  Avords  in  Gahatians,   "Christ 
liatli  redeemed  us  from  tlio  curse  of  the  law,  being  made 
a  curse  for  us,  that  the  blessing  of  Abraham  might  come 
on  the  Gentiles  through   Jesus   Christ,    that   we   might 
receive  the  promise  of  the  Spirit" — co-extensive,  therefore, 
with  the  whole  blessing  to  Abraham — ''tlirough  faith." 
Or  as  in  those  words  of  Jesus,   *'If  ye  then,  being  evil, 
know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,   how 
much  more   shall  your  heavenly   Father  give  the  Holy 
Spirit,"    comprehensive  of  all  good  gifts  together,    "  to 
them  that  ask  him."    0  yes,  let  the  Church,  let  but  the 
individual  soul,  receive  the  Holy  Ghost,   "the  promise  of 
the  Father,"  and  they  have  all  things  therein.     All  that 
the  Church   needs, — for  example,   for  tlie  work  of  the 
ministry,  ordinarj^and  extraordinary, — is  embraced  in  the 
promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost.    And  all  things  needed  by  an 
individual  soul  are  in  the  same  promise.     Life  from  the 
dead  is  in  it ;  union  to  Christ  by  faith  is  in  it ;  hence,  in 
effect,  forgiveness,  justification,  is  in  it ;  repentance  is  in 
it ;  holiness,  joi^ayer,  grace,  glory — "  the  promise  of  the 
Father/ '^all-precious,  all-comprehensive.     And  does  not 
the   expression   thus  tell   also  of  the  Father's  peculiar 
delight  in  this  promise,  and  in  the  fulfilling  of  it,  now 
that  the  barriers  of  unexpiated  guilt  have  been  taken  out 
of  the  way,  by  the  death  of  the  Lamb  ?     The  Father's 
promise  !     Does  it  not  tell  of  this  as  a  promise  specially 
dear  to  the  Father's  heart,  and  so  lend  a  new  emj^hasis  of 
encouragement  to  the  words  of  Jesus,  "If  ye,  being  evil, 
know  how  to  give  good  gifts  imto  your  children,   how 
much  more   shall  your  heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy 
Spirit,"  his  own  pre-eminent  promise,  "  to  them  that  ask 
him." 

II.  Eut  thus  wc  are  led  to  tlie  second  thing  in  the  text, 
namely,  tlie  waiting, — the  import  of  tlie  waiting  for  the 
promise— "he  commanded  them  that  they  should  tcait  for 


224  WAITIXG  FOR  THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  FATHER. 

the  promise  of  the  Father."  I  think  that  the  waiting 
imported  three  things — first,  looking  for  it  under  a  pro- 
found conviction  of  its  absolute  necessity,  and  its  full 
sufficiency ;  second,  pleading  for  it  with  the  Lord  in 
prayer;  and  this  the  prayer,  third,  of  intense  longing 
desire,  and  patient  believing  expectation.  First,  looking 
for  it  under  a  profound  conviction  of  its  absolute  necessity, 
and  its  full  sufficiency.  Those  disciples  had  witnessed  a 
solemn  proof  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
in  the  comparative  barrenness,  the  inefficacy  for  saving 
purposes,  of  the  ministry  even  of  their  Master  himself, 
while  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  given.  What  a  com- 
ment was  this  on  the  words,  "upon  the  land  of  my  people 
shall  come  up  briers  and  thorns" — under  all  possible 
advantages — "until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  us  from  on 
high!"  But  the  Lord  had  taught  them  no  less  to  rest 
assured  of  the  full  and  glorious  sufficiency  of  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Once  and  again  he  had  taught  this 
to  them  by  symbol,  when,  after  they  had  toiled  all  night 
in  their  occupation  of  fishermen,  and  taken  nothing, 
immediately  on  the  putting  forth  of  his  resistless  power, 
they  enclosed  a  great  multitude  of  fishes.  And  in  express 
terms  he  had  taught  it  when  he  said  to  them,  "verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  believeth  on  me,  the 
works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also;  and  greater  works 
than  these  shall  he  do,  because  I  go  unto  my  Father" — 
"If  I  depart,  I  will  send  the  Holy  Ghost  unto  you;  and 
when  he  is  come,  he  will  rej^rove  [convince,]  tlie  ivorld  of 
sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment."  "Well;  they 
were  to  wait  at  Jerusalem  under  a  profound  conviction 
of  these  truths, — settling  it  deep  in  their  minds,  that 
without  the  promise  of  the  Father  they  must  labour  all  in 
vain ;  but  that  with  it,  even  under  their  humbler  instru- 
mentality, "the  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  should 
be  glad  for  them,  and  the  desert  should  rejoice,  and  blossom 
as  the  rose."    They  were  to  wait  at  Jerusalem  somewhat  in 


WAITiXG  FOR  THE  TIIOMISE  OF  THE  FATHER.  225 

tlie  spirit  of  God's  propliet,  -ulicn  tlio  Lord  set  liim  down 
in  the  midst  of  the  vaUey  which  was  full  of  bones,  and 
caused  him  to  pass  by  them  round  about;  and,  behold, 
they  were  very  many  in  the  open  valley,  and  very  dry. 
And  he  said  unto  him,  Son  of  man,  can  these  bones  live  ? 
And  he  answered,  0  Lord  God,  thou  knowest — not  by 
any  human  power  at  least.  '*And  he  said  unto  me, 
prophesy  upon  these  bones,  and  sa}^  unto  them,  0  ye  dry 
bones,  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord.  Thus  saitli  the  Lord 
God  unto  these  bones,  behold,  I  will  cause  breath  to  enter 
into  you,  and  ye  shall  live ;  and  I  will  lay  sinews  upon 
you,  and  will  bring  up  flesh  itpon  you,  and  cover  you  with 
skin,  and  put  breath  in  you,  and  ye  shall  live;  and  ye 
shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord."  The  first  element  in 
the  waiting  for  the  promise,  was  a  profound  conviction 
of  its  absolute  necessity,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  its  full 
and  glorious  sufficiency,  on  the  other. 

But  this  ran  necessarily  into  prayer.  They  were  to 
wait  for  the  promise  by  pleading  for  it  with  the  Lord  in 
prayer.  By  far  the  best  comment  here  on  the  import 
of  the  commanded  waiting,  is  the  actual  waiting  of 
the  disciples  in  compliance  with  the  command — which 
we  have  in  the  12th,  13th,  and  14tli  verses,  ''Then 
returned  they  unto  Jerusalem  from  the  mount  called 
Olivet,  which  is  from  Jerusalem  a  sabbath  day's  joui'ney. 
And  when  they  were  come  in,  they  went  up  into  an  upper 
room,  where  abode  both  Peter,  and  James,  and  John, 
and  Andrew,  Philip,  and  Thomas,  Bartholomew,  and 
Matthew,  James  the  son  of  Alpheus,  and  Simon  Zelotes, 
and  Judas  the  brother  of  James.  These  all  continued 
with  one  accord  in  prayer  and  supplication,  with  the 
women,  and  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  with  his 
brethren."  And  in  the  same  attitude  we  find  them, — 
in  the  same  exercise  of  ceaseless  prayer,  at  the  opening  of 
the  second  chapter,  "  And  when  the  day  of  Pentecost  was 
fully  come,  they  were  all  with  one  accord  in  one  place : 

p 


226  WAITING  FOR  THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  FATHER. 

• 

and  suddenly,"  &c.  "He  commanded  tliem  tliat  tliey 
should  wait  for  the  promise  of  the  Father,"  It  evidently 
never  entered  the  minds  of  these  disciples,  that,  having 
their  Master's  express  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  they 
might  sit  down  with  folded  hands,  and  abide  its  ful- 
filment in  listless  indolence.  They  had  drunk  into  the 
spirit  of  those  words,  ''Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  I 
will  3^et  for  this  be  enquired  of  by  the  house  of  Israel, 
to  do  it  for  them."  They  had  drunk  into  the  spirit  of 
David,  of  whom  we  read  that,  when  God  gave  him 
an  equally  express  and  absolute  promise  respecting  his 
kingdom,  or  rather  the  kingdom  of  Messiah  to  spring 
from  his  loins,  he  went  in,  and  sat  before  the  Lord,  and 
said,  Thou,  0  Lord  of  hosts,  God  of  Israel,  hast  revealed 
to  thy  servant,  saying,  I  will  build  thee  an  house ;  there- 
fore hath  thy  servant  found  in  his  heart  to  pray  this 
prayer  imto  thee.  .  .  .  And  now,  0  Lord  God,  thou 
art  that  God,  and  thy  words  be  true ;  and  thou  hast 
promised  this  goodness  xinto  thy  servant :  therefore  now 
let  it  please  thee  to  bless  the  house  of  thy  servant,  that  it 
may  continue  for  ever  before  thee ;  for  thou,  0  Lord  God, 
hast  spoken  it ;  and  with  thy  blessing  let  the  house  of 
thy  servant  be  blessed  for  ever.  ''  When  they  were  come 
in,  they  went  up  into  an  upper  room,  where  abode  both 
Peter,  and  James,  and  John,  &c.  These  all  continued 
with  one  accord  in  prayer  and  supplication,  with  the 
women,  and  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  with  his 
brethren."  Ah,  what  meetings  for  prayer  were  these — 
of  which  we  are  reaping  the  blessed  fruits  at  this 
hour!  Methinks  none  of  those  disciples  said,  "Oh, 
it's  only  a  prayer  meeting!"  Assuredly,  if  there  were 
addresses  of  any  kind  at  these  meetings,  yet  the  busi- 
ness, the  work  of  them,  was  prayer.  I  doubt  not  that 
the  drift  of  any  exhortations  at  them  would  sim^oly 
be,  to  call  up  another  and  another  example  of  "the 
XDromise  of  the  Father,"  and  to  impress  the  more  deeply 


■SVAITIXG  roil  THE  rUOMISE  OF  THE  FATHER.  227 

on  every  heart  its  glorious  certaiuty — its  urgent  necessity 
— its  all-compreliensivo  preciousness  and  sufficiency.  The 
scope  of  thoin  all  would  bo — **  ask  of  the  Lord  rain  in  the 
time  of  the  latter  rain" — **ye  that  are  the  Lord's  remem- 
brancers, keep  not  silence,  and  give  him  no  rest,  till  he 
establisli,  and  till  he  make  Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the 
earth."  What  defmiteness,  solemn  definiteness  of  aim, 
would  characterise  these  meetings,  these  prayers !  How 
woidd  they  exemplify  the  words  of  Jesus,  *'  If  two  of  you 
shall  agree  on  earth  as  touching  anything  that  they  shall 
ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my  Father  which  is  in 
heaven."  ''He  commanded  them  that  they  should  wait 
for  the  promise  of  the  Father" — "they  continued  with 
one  accord  in  prayer  and  supplication." 

And  thus  I  said  tliat,  further  still,  the  waiting  for  the 
promise  imported  the  praj-er  of  intense  longing  desire, 
and  patient  believing  expectation.  I  am  the  rather  led  to 
notice  this,  because  the  term  rendered  "wait"  in  the  text 
is  a  remarkable  one,  of  somewhat  rare  occurrence,  signi- 
fying literally  to  ivait  round  about  a  thing,  as  in  anxious 
expectation.  And  nobody  can  doubt  that  this  was  the  very 
character  of  the  waiting  of  these  disciples,  as  expressed 
in  the  words  "they  continued" — stedfastly  persisted  is  the 
idea — "with  one  accord  in  prayer  and  supplication."  It 
was  the  prayer  of  intense  desire.  Agreed  together  as 
touching  that  which  they  should  ask,  how  would  they 
"fill  their  mouths  with  arguments,"  drawn  from  their 
own  utter  insufficiency,  from  the  world's  ungodliness  and 
misery,  from  Jehovah's  power,  and  grace,  and  faithful- 
ness to  his  own  pre-eminent  promise  in  Christ!  "Oh 
that  thou  wouldst  rend  the  heavens,"  would  be  their 
spirit,  if  not  their  language,  "that  thou  wouldst  come 
down,  that  the  mountains  might  flow  down  at  thy  pre- 
sence!" "We  have  no  might.  Lord,  against  this  great 
company  that  cometh  against  us ;  neither  know  we  what 
to  do:  but  our  eyes  are  upon  thee."     "0  Lord,  though 


228  WAITING  FOE  THE  PEOMISE  OF  THE  FATHER. 

our  iniquities  testify  against  us,  do  tliou  for  thy  name's 
sake."  "Are  there  any  among  the  vanities  of  the  Gen- 
tiles that  can  cause  rain  ?  or  can  the  heavens  give 
showers?  Art  not  thou  He,  O  Lord  our  God?  therefore 
we  will  wait  upon  thee;  for  thou  hast  made  all  these 
things."  And  it  was  the  prayer  of  expectation,  patient 
believing  expectation,  as  well  as  longing  desire.  They 
came  together  day  after  day,  and  beheld  no  outward 
manifestation  of  any  kind.  But  they  "continued  with 
one  accord  in  prayer  and  supplication."  They  had  only 
the  naked  promise  ;  but  it  was  enough.  If,  in  respect  of 
longing  desire,  they  were  as  when  Elijah,  in  the  famine 
in  Israel,  went  up  to  the  top  of  Carmel,  and  cast  himself 
down  upon  the  earth,  and  put  his  face  between  his  knees, 
and  said  to  his  servant,  Go  up  now,  look  toward  the  sea 
— in  respect  of  patient  believing  expectation,  they  were  as 
when  the  servant  went  up  and  looked,  and  said,  "there  is 
nothing,"  and  Elijah  said,  "go  again  seven  times."  God 
hath  spoken  in  his  holiness  :  we  will  rejoice.  Didst  not 
thou  say.  Lord  Jesus,  if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him  unto 
you,  and  when  he  is  come,  he  will  do  this,  and  this,  and 
this?  Be  it  unto  us  as  thou  hast  said.  It  is  nothing  with 
thee  to  help,  whether  with  many  or  with  them  that 
have  no  power.  We  will  not  let  thee  go  except  thou 
bless  us.  Remember  the  word  unto  thy  servants,  upon 
which  thou  hast  caused  us  to  hope.  "  He  commanded 
them  that  in  spirit  they  should  wait  for  the  promise  of  the 
Eather,"  under  a  profound  conviction  of  its  absolute 
necessity,  and  its  full  sufficienc}^ — pleading  for  it  with 
the  Lord  in  prayer — and  this  the  prayer  of  intense  longing 
desire,  and  patient  believing  expectation. 

III.  I  will  limit  myself  to  a  briefer  notice  of  the  third 
and  last  thing,  namely,  the  commandment  to  wait — "he 
commanded  them  that  they  should  wait  for  the  promise 
of  the  Eather."  I  will  not  dwell  on  the  important  fact, 
that,  while  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  express, 


\\'A1TIXG  FOR  THE  rROMISE  OF  THE  FATHER.  220 

the  disciples  were  commanded  to  wait  for  it  in  impor- 
tunate praj'er, — that  the  commandment  was  quite  as 
express  as  the  promise — the  moans  no  less  necessary,  and 
no  less  fore-ai-)pointed  and  ordained,  than  the  end.  Suffice 
it  to  touch  on  the  commandment  in  but  one  point  of  view, 
that  of  the  parties  receiving  it.  To  whom  was  this  command- 
ment given  ?  Now  it  is  very  clear,  so  far,  that  the  apostles 
did  not  regard  it  as  belonging  exclusively  to  them.  We  have 
found,  at  least,  associated  witli  them  in  the  fulfilling  of  it, 
the  private  members  of  the  Church  of  that  day — **  these  all 
continued  with  one  accord  in  pra3'er  and  supplication,  witli 
the  women,  and  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  his 
brethren."  Ko  sooner,  evidently,  had  the  apostles  re- 
turned to  Jerusalem,  than  they  had  hastened  to  make 
their  friends  there  acquainted  with  the  commandment, — 
liastened  to  make  them  sharers  in  the  privilege  and  in  the 
obligation  of  it — to  charge  it  home  on  their  hearts  as  be- 
longing no  less  to  them  than  to  themselves.  But  perhaps 
the  commandment  at  least  belonged  exclusively  to  the 
disci]Dles  of  that  age  ?  Well,  this  question  turns  on  a 
very  simple  issue.  If  the  transactions  of  the  Pentecostal 
period  exhausted  tlie  riches  of  "  the  promise  of  the 
Father;"  or  if  the  Church  and  the  World  now  no  longer 
stand  in  need  of  these  riches,  then,  doubtless,  the  com- 
mandment to  wait  for  it  must  have  fallen  and  ceased. 
But  if,  as  is  surelj'  very  palpable,  only  the  fii'st-fruits  of 
the  promise,  the  first  precious  sheaves  of  the  harvest,  were 
reaped  in  the  apostolic  age, — if,  in  the  mysterious  provi- 
dence of  the  Lord,  a  blight  began  soon  to  come  over  the 
Church,  and  the  spirit  of  anti-Christ  to  take  the  place  of 
the  Spirit  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son, — if  those  great 
promises  of  the  Spirit  to  which  I  referred  under  the  fii'st 
head  remain  still  to  be  accompli slied  in  their  fulness, — if 
darkness  yet  to  a  mournfid  extent  covers  the  earth,  and 
gross  darkness  the  peoj^le, — if  the  dispensation  of  the 
covenant  of  grace  under  which  we  live  is  termed  expressly 


230  WAITING  FOR  TnE  PROMISE  OF  THE  FATHER. 

in  Scripture    ''the  ministration   of  the    Sjpirit," — if  the 
whole  predicted  glory  of  the  latter  day  is  inseparable  from 
the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost — if  that  word  abides  the 
inheritance  of  the  Church,  "  I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit 
upon  all  flesh,"  with  numberless  words  like  these,  "  the 
earth  shall  be   full  of  the  knowledge  and  glory  of  the 
Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea" — then  it  can  admit  of 
no  doubt  at  all  that  the  commandment  of  the  text  belongs 
to  us  at  this  hour.     Then  we,  no  less  than  the  apostles,  are 
not  warranted  only,  but  commanded,  "  to  wait  for  the  pro- 
mise of  the  Eather."    Then  it  is  ours  to  meditate  on  all  that 
that  expression  implies — the  large,  central  place  of  the  pro- 
mise in  the  scriptures ;  the  all-precious,  all- comprehensive, 
character  of  it ;  the  Father's  delight  in  it,  and  in  the  ful- 
filment of  it.     Then  it  is  ours  to  fix  deep  in  our  minds  also 
its  absolute  necessity,  and  its  full  sufficiency.     Ours  it  is 
to  plead  for  it  with  the  Lord  in  prayer — prayer  of  intense 
longing  desire,  and  patient  believing  expectation.     Ours 
it  is,   ministers   and  people   alike — in   secret,   when  we 
have  entered  into  our  closet,  and  shut  our  door — in  the 
family — in  the  social  meeting — in  the  public  assembly — 
to  "stir   up    ourselves   to   take   hold   of  God"   in   this 
behalf.     If  the  preaching  of  the  word  belongs  to  those 
who  are   in   the   ministry,    assuredly  the   duty  and   the 
blessedness  of  prayer  for  the  Holy  Ghost  to  render  the 
word  efficacious,  belongs  to  all  disciples  of  the  Lord  alike. 
What  a  momentous  function  !     What  untold  results  may 
hang   upon   the    prayers   of    but   one   retired   unknown 
disciple,   listening  to  the  call,   ^^jq  that  are  the  Lord's 
remembrancers,  keep  not  silence,  and  give  him  no  rest, 
till  he  establish  and  till  he  make  Jerusalem  a  praise  in 
the  earth"! 

The  time  would  fail  us  to  enter  into  manifold  special 
circumstances  in  this  our  own  day,  fitted  to  constrain  and 
animate,  to  stimulate  and  encourage,  us  to  wait  for  the 
promise  of  the  ]Father, — for  the   effusion  of  the  Holy 


-RAITING  FOR  THE  TROMISE  OF  THE  FATHER.  231 

Gliost.  *'WIio  arc  these  that,"  even  now  in  a  great 
empire,  **  fly  as  a  cloud,  and  as  doves  to  their  windows  ?  "•^' 
Is  not  the  Lord's  voice  from  that  land  to  us,  *'  I  am  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  all  flesh;  is  there  anything  too  hard  for 
me?  "  *'  Call  unto  mo,  and  I  will  answer  thee,  and  show 
thee  great  and  mighty  things,  which  thou  knowest  not." 
"Ask  of  me  things  to  come,  concerning  my  sons;  and 
concerning  the  work  of  my  hands  command  ye  me." 
"  Prove  me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Ijord  of  hosts,  if  I 
will  not  open  you  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  pour  you 
out  a  blessing,  that  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to 
receive  it?" 

Dear  hearers,  have  you  yet  received  the  Holy  Ghost 
yourselves?  Do  you  yet  know  Avhat  prayer  really  is? 
Did  Jesus  ever  say  of  you,  as  he  did  of  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
"behold,  he  prayeth?  "  If  not,  I  can  but  affectionately 
remind  you  that  charity  eminently  here  begins  at  home, 
— begins  with  the  inquiry,  "  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  " 
I  can  but  remind  you  of  the  words  of  Jesus,  * '  ye  will  not 
come  to  me,  that  ye  might  have  life" — "If  ye,  being 
evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how 
much  more  shall  your  heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him?" — "If  thou  knewest  the 
gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee,  give  me  to 
drink;  thou  wouldst  have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would 
have  given  thee  living  water" — "If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me,  and  drink.  He  that  believeth  on  me, 
as  the  scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers 
of  living  water.  This  spake  he  of  the  Spirit,  which  they 
that  believe  on  him  should  receive."  But  ye  all  who 
know  anything  of  prayer — I  charge  home  on  you,  for  your 

*  The  Sermon  was  i^reached  in  the  year  1 858,  after  tlie  tidings 
had  arrived  from  the  United  States,  of  the  wide-spread  awakening 
of  souls  that  had  taken  place  in  that  country,  in  manifest  answer  to 
prayer  ;  and  which  was  followed,  first,  by  the  great  revival  in  the 
ZS'orth  of  Ireland  in  1859,  and  next  hy  the  no  less  remarkable 
spiritual  movement  in  Scotland,  in  1SG0-C1-C2. 


232  WAITIXG  FOP.  THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  FATHER. 

own  sakes,  for  your  families,  for  tlie  Church,  for  the 
World,  the  commandment  of  the  text.  And  I  commend 
earnestly  to  you,  in  connection  with  it,  that  first  fulfilment 
of  it,  left  on  record  for  the  instruction  and  imitation  of  the 
Church  in  every  age,  "  These  all  continued  with  one 
accord  in  prayer  and  supj^lication,  with  the  women,  and 
Mary  the   mother   of   Jesus,    and  his  brethren."      He 

COMMANDED  THEM  THAT  THEY  SHOULD  WAIT  FOR  THE 
PROMISE  OF  THE  FATHER. 


XVIII. 

A  COMMUNION  SABBATH'S  SERVICES. 
1.  Morning  Sermon, 

THE  SAYIOUll — niS  EUKAND  IXTO  THE  ^'OELD. 

'^  Tlie  Son  of  man  is  comx  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
ichich  ivas  lost.'' — Luke  xix.  10. 

I.  The  Son  of  man.  Have  you  happened  to  observe,  in 
your  reading  of  the  Gospels,  that  there  is  no  name  which 
our  blessed  Lord  takes  there  so  constantly  to  himself  as 
this  one,  ''the  Son  of  man  '^?  He  evidently  preferred  to 
take  it  above  every  other.  About  fifty  difi'erent  times 
does  he  call  himself  "  the  Son  of  man."  It  is  very  notice- 
able, indeed,  that  his  disciples  never  venture  to  address 
him  by  this  lowly  name — as  God,  for  example,  was  wont 
to  address  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  "  Son  of  man,"  to  remind 
him,  and  keep  him  in  remembrance,  that,  amid  all  the 
revelations  made  to  him  in  connection  with  the  perverse 
people  to  whom  he  was  sent,  he  was  himself  but  a  worm 
of  the  dust,  and  compassed  about  with  human  infirmities, 
even  as  they.  Never  do  the  disciples  so  address  their 
Master  and  Lord.  But  the  name,  as  I  have  said,  is  con- 
tinually on  his  own  lips — ''when  ye  have  lifted  up  the 
Son  of  man"  ;  "the  Son  of  man  must  be  delivered  into 
the  hands  of  sinful  men  "  ;  "  the  Son  of  man  is  Lord  of 
the  Sabbath";  "the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay 
his  head";  "when  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his 
glory"' — and  so  on,  endlessly. 


231      '    THE  SAYIOUH HIS  EREAND  INTO  THE  WORLD. 

Of  course  the  name  told,  with,  deepest  emphasis,  that 
he  was  very  man,  "  Son  of  man," — no  high  angehc  spirit, 
in  the  appearance  of  a  man — as  the  Arians  dream  and 
teach,  thinking  thus  to  explain  the  greatest  things  spoken 
of  him,  and  spoken  and  done  by  him,  without  confessing 
him  to  be  the  living  God — but  very  man  of  very  man, 
"Son  of  man,"  bone  of  our  bone,  and  flesh  of  our  flesh. 
But  let  me  venture  to  ask,  whether  the  very  fact  of  our 
Lord's  constantly  taking  this  name,  "  Son  of  man,"  did 
not  itself  tell,  by  implication,  of  the  infinitely  higher 
nature,  from  the  glory  of  which  he  had  descended  to  take 
our  humanity.  Why  else  have  everywhere  proclaimed 
himself,  what  all  behoved  to  know  him  to  be,  seeing  it  in 
his  human  countenance,  and  hearing  it  in  his  human 
voice  ?  ^'  Assuredly,  at  all  events,  he  did  descend  even 
from  the  majesty  of  eternal  Godhead — not  ceasing,  of 
course,  to  be  God — to  become  bone  of  our  bone,  and 
flesh  of  our  flesh.     Ill  would   it  become  us,   surely,   to 

*  I  am  aware  of  au  ansAver  that  may  suggest  itself  to  this 
question.  It  may  be  asked  wlietlier  our  Lord  did  not  design,  in 
using  the  name,  "the  Son  of  man,"  to  announce  himself  as,  pre- 
eminentl}'-  and  officially,  "^7ie  Son  of  man," — the  second  Adam, — 
the  Christ.  And  I  do  not  doubt  that  in  his  own  mind  there  was 
more  or  less  reference,  in  his  use  of  it,  to  the  one  or  two  places  of 
the  Old  Testament  (for  they  are  not  more),  where  this  title  is  given 
to  Messiah.  But  I  cannot  believe  that  he  intended  thus  to 
announce  everywhere  his  official  character,  his  Messiahship ;  or 
that  anything  of  that  kind  will  explain  his  constant  use  of  the 
title.  He  must  have  known  the  indefiniteness  of  the  ideas  it  would 
suggest  to  his  hearers,  and  even  to  his  disciples,  since,  at  Csesarea 
Philippi,  he  asked  them,  "Whom  do  men  say  tliat  I,  the  Son  of 
man,  am  ?  "  Had  he  been  constantly  announcing  himself  in  the  name, 
as  the  C/«v'5)','what  would  have  been  the  meaning  of  that  question  ?  I 
cannot  avoid  thinking  that,  in  taking  it  to  himself  some  fifty  different 
times,  he  employed  language  which  was  fitted  to  suggest  to  his 
hearers  the  idea  of  the  higher  nature  from  whose  glory  he  had 
descended  to  become  man.  However,  the  reader  will  see  that  I 
have  not  dogmatized  as  to  this,  nor  laid  any  doctrinal  stress  on  it. 


THE  SAVIOUn — Ills  EllRAXD  INTO  THE  WORLD.  235 

let  Lis  gracious  preference  for  the  name  of  the  lower 
nature,  hide  from  our  view  the  higher  —  obscure  for 
a  moment  in  our  eye  the  glory  of  the  God-man,  — 
Emmanuel,  God  with  us, — not  more  truly  Son  of  man, 
very  man  of  ver}'  man,  than  Son  of  God,  very  God  of  very 
God, — and  who,  when  standing  at  length  upon  our  earth, 
said  to  Xicodemus,  ''  No  man  hath  ascended  up  to  heaven, 
but  he  that  came  down  from  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man 
which  is  in  heaven  " — is  in  it  at  this  hour,  wliile  speaking 
to  thee  with  human  voice,  the  Son  of  man,  upon  the 
earth ! 

But  I  am  ver}''  desirous  here, — when  I  remind  j'ou  of 
our  Lord's  having  so  constantly  taken  this  name  to  him- 
self, "the  Son  of  man," — to  arrest  your  thoughts  on  his 
wondrous  grace  and  love,  as  they  appear  in  the  fact,  that 
having  come  into  our  world  to  save  the  chief  of  sinners, 
by  assuming  their  nature,  and  bearing  in  it  their  sin  and 
their  curse,  it  was  to  him  a  very  refreshment  and  joy,  to 
think  and  speak  everywhere  of  the  lowly  nature  which  he 
had  taken.  He  delights  to  take  the  name,  "  Son  of 
man,"  not  only  notwithstanding  all  the  ignominy  and 
suffering  which  the  taking  of  our  nature  entailed,  but 
because  it  was  most  dear  to  him  as  the  nature  in  which 
he  could,  and  in  which  he  would,  become  "  obedient  unto 
death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross,"  and  so  "bring  the 
many  sons  unto  glory," — that  "great  multitude  which  no 
man  can  number,  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  people, 
and  tongues."  "  The  Son  of  man,"  said  he  over  and 
over  again  ;  and  here,  when  telling  the  blessed  errand 
on  which  he  came  into  the  world,  "  The  Son  of  man," 
he  says,  "is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was 
lost." 

II.  But  thus  I  am  brought  to  touch,  a  little  more 
fully,  on  the  errand  itself, — the  Saviour's  errand  into  the 
world,  as  we  have  it  here  from  his  own  lips, — "  come," 


2oG  THE  SAVIOUR niS  ERRAND  INTO  THE  WORLD. 

he  says,  ''the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost." 

1.  I  think  that  the  last,  solemn,  word,  ''  lost,"  summons 
our  thoughts  first,  as  at  once  declaring  the  oljects  of  the 
errand, — who,  and  who  alone,  they  were  whom  it  con- 
templated,— whom  the  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and  to 
save,' — says  he  himself,  the  "lost,"  and  none  else  but, 
the  lost.  Oh,  are  there  any  in  this  house  who  are  unwil- 
ling to  take  their  place  in  that  humbling  word,  ''lost," — • 
who  are  ready  enough,  it  may  be,  to  confess  that  they  are 
not  what  they  ought  to  be,  but  are  not  ready  to  acknow- 
ledge that  they  either  are,  or  ever  were,  ruined,  dead, 
lost, — who  are  disposed,  in  their  secret  hearts  at  least, 
to  take  their  ground  with  him  ^v\\o  thanked  God  that 
he  was  "no  extortioner,  unjust,  adulterer"?  Dear 
liearers,  if  you  tliink  that  you  can  do  without  Jesus 
Christ, — if  you  think  tliat  you  can  sufficiently  dispose 
of  your  sins  without  this  Saviour, — by  all  means  hold 
by  the  judgment  you  have  formed  of  yourselves.  But 
know  ^\(A\.  that  so  long  as  you  hold  by  that  judg- 
ment, you  renoimce  and  cut  yourselves  oft  Itoui  tliis 
blessed  One,  who  declares  expressly  here  that  the  objects 
of  his  whole  errand  into  tlie  world, — they  whom,  and 
whom  alone,  he  came  to  seek  and  to  save, — were  the 
"lost"  0  Lord,  let  my  lot  be  with  him  who,  "stand- 
ing afar  off,  would  not  lift  up  so  much  as  his  eyes  unto 
heaven,  but  smote  upon  his  breast,  saying,  God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner"  : 

And  are  there  others  here  who  also  are  dis]3osed  to  say 
with  the  Pharisee,  "  I  am  not  as  other  men  are,"  but  on 
precisely  the  opposite  ground  to  his — meaning  that  they 
are  so  much  worse  (as  they  think)  than  other  men,  that 
they  cannot  easily  believe  in  the  possibility  of  mercy 
reaching  them?  Know  ye  well,  that,  as  ye  cannot  be 
worse  than  lost,  so  your  being  lost,  so  far  from  shutting 
you  out  from  this  Saviour,  forms  a  kind  of  strange  door 


THE  SAVIOUR HIS  KURAXD  IXTO  THE  WOliLD.  237 

of  entranco  into  the  whole  riches  of  his  salvation, — a  kind 
of  strange  qualification  for  our  Lord  Jesus,  who  declares 
here  that  they  whom  he  came  into  the  world  to  seek  and 
to  save,  were  only  the  *'lost."  As  my  old  friend,  Dr 
Duncan,  nsed  to  speak,  "For  myself,  I  cannot  always 
come  to  Christ  direct,  but  I  can  always  come  by  sin.  Sin 
is  the  handle  by  which  I  get  to  Christ.  I  take  a  verse  iu 
which  God  has  put  Christ  and  sin  together.  I  cannot 
always  put  my  linger  upon  Christ,  and  say,  '  Christ 
belongs  to  me.'  But  I  can  put  my  finger  upon  sin, 
and  say,  'Sin  belongs  to  me.'  I  take  that  word,  for 
instance,  *The  Son  of  man  is  come  to  save  that  which  is 
lost.'  Yes,  lost — I'm  lost.  I  put  my  finger  upon  that 
word,  and  say,  *  I'm  the  lost  one  :  I'm  lost ; '  and  I  cry 
out,  'What  God  hath  joined  together,  let  not  man  put 
asunder.'"  It  is  mentioned  in  the  memoirs  of  the  late 
admirable,  and  much  honoured,  home  missionary,  Duncan 
Matheson,  that  when  an  awakened  sinner  once  cried  out, 
in  a  kind  of  despair,  "I  am  lost,  I  am  lost,"  he  replied, 
"  I  am  glad  you  think  that,  for  Christ  came  to  save  the 
lost ! " 

But  I  must  saj'  yet  another  word  on  this  account  which 
our  blessed  Lord  gives  of  tiie  objects  of  his  errand  into 
the  world, — those  whom  alone  he  came  to  seek  and  to 
save, — the  lost.  We  are  accustomed  to  apply  the  word 
rather  to  the  finally  lost;  and  so  we  speak,  and  quite 
properly,  of  '*  the  state  of  the  lost."  Our  Lord  applies  it 
here,  as  you  see,  to  all  unpardoned,  unregenerated  ones, — 
all  that  are  yet  in  their  sins,  and  strangers  to  his  great 
salvation.  But,  I  pray  you,  do  not  think  that  there  is 
any  such  great  difference  as  might  at  first  appear  between 
the  two  significations, — between  the  lost^/^6T^,  and  the  lost 
here.  True,  there  is  tiiis  difi'erence,  that  there  the  ruin  is 
fearfully  developed  and  revealed,  "The  rich  man  died, 
and  was  bui-ied ;  and  in  hell  he  lift  up  his  eyes,  being 
in  torments,  and  secth  Abraliam  afar  off,  and  Lazarus  in 


238  THE  SAYIOUE HIS  ERE  AND  INTO  THE  WORLD. 

his  bosom."  And  tliere  is  this  further  difference,  that 
God  has  exjoressly  said,  that  from  the  ruin  there  he 
will  not  deliver  any  more,  "  Between  us  and  you  there 
is  a  great  gulf  fixed :  so  that  they  which  would  pass 
from  hence  to  you  cannot ;  neither  can  they  pass  to  us 
that  would  come  from  thence."''  Blessed  be  Grod,  He  can, 
and  may,  deliver  from  the  ruin  here,  as  the  text  bears 
most  precious  witness.  But  otherwise  the  ruin  is  one  and 
the  same  there,  and  here.  Yea,  it  is  equally  final  here,  as 
far  as  concerns  any  power  of  the  sinner  to  deliver  himself 
out  of  it.  You  remember  that  question  which  is  asked 
respecting  a  sinner  saved  by  grace,  ''  Is  not  this  a  brand 
plucked  out  of  the  fire  ?  "  Plucked  out  of  it, — he 
was  already  in  it,  when  God  plucked  him  out — in  the  fire 
of  the  curse,  as  it  is  written,  ''as  many  as  are  of  the 
works  of  the  law  are  under  the  curse ;  "  and  in  the  fire 
of  the  unsubdued  dominion  of  ungodliness  and  sin, 
"dead  in  trespasses  and  sins," — lost!  "We  ourselves 
also,"  writes  Paul  to  Titus,  "were  once  foolish,  disobe- 
dient, deceived,  serving  divers  lusts  and  pleasures,  living 
in  malice  and  envy,  hateful,  and  hating  one  another  " — 
in  the  fire,  lost !  "  You  hath  he  quickened,  who  were 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins;  wherein  in  time  past  ye 
walked  according  to  the  course  of  this  world,  according 
to  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the  spirit  that  now 
worketh  in  the  children  of  disobedience  :  among  whom 
9-1  so  we  had  our  conversation  in  times  past  in  the  lusts  of 
our  flesh,  fulfilling  the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the 
mind ;  and  were  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath,  even  as 
others  "—in  the  fire,  lost !  Oh  for  some  heart- afi'ecting 
apprehensions  of  this  solemn  word, — this  account  which 
our  Lord  gives  of  the  objects  of  his  errand  into  the  world, 
— of  those  whom,  and  whom  alone,  he  came  to  seek  and 
to  save, — the  lost ! 

2.  But  now  I  touch  on  the  errand,  in  the  nature  of  it,  as 
regards  those  its  objects,  the  lost, — even  "  to  seek  and  to 


THE  SAVIOUR — niS  ERllAND  I^'TO  THE  VOKLD.  239 

pave"  them.  The  Son  of  man,  Jesus  says,  is  come,  first 
to  seel-,  and  then  to  nave,  that  which  was  lost. 

(1.)  First,  He  is  come  to  seek  the  lost, — to  seek  those  who 
were  not. seeking  Him !  0  the  grace  of  this  Saviour,  come 
in  search  of  tliose  who  souglit  only  to  escape  away  from 
Him  !  It  had  been  great  grace,  indeed,  to  have  saved  men 
crying  for  mercj' ;  and,  sooner  or  later,  all  tliat  are  saved 
do  cry  for  it — but  not  until  Christ  has  first  sought  them^ 
not  seeking  him,  as  it  is  written  (Isaiah  Ixv.  1),  "I  am 
sought  of  them  that  asked  not  for  me ;  I  am  found  of  them 
that  sought  me  not."  I  have  said  that  they  only  sought 
to  escape  away  fi'om  him.  Our  first  parents  were  flee- 
ing from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  God,  w^hen  God  called 
to  Adam,  and  said  unto  him,  "AVhere  art  thou?"  When 
the  Son  of  God  came  into  the  w^orld,  it  is  written,  "The 
light  shineth  in  darkness ;  and  the  darkness  comprehended 
it  not."  ''  He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made 
by  him,  and  the  world  knew  him  not.  He  came  unto 
his  own,  and  his  own  received  him  not."  ''All  witli 
one  consent  began  to  make  excuse" — ''  they  would  not 
come  "  !  Once,  when  a  crowd  of  Jews  seemed  in  search 
of  the  Saviour,  hastening  across  the  sea  of  Galilee  to  find 
him,  his  first  word  to  them  was,  ''Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  you.  Ye  seek  me,  because  ye  did  eat  of  tlie  loaves, 
and  were  filled  " — ye  seek  not  me,  but  only  the  outward 
tilings  ye  hope  to  get  by  me.  There  is  reason  to  fear  that 
even  Zaccheiis  here  ''  climbed  up  into  the  sycamore  tree  " 
very  much  out  of  curiosity,  ''  to  see  Jesus,  for  he  was  to 
pass  that  way.'' 

But  let  me  take  one  unmistakable  instance,  as  a  speci- 
men of  all.  You  remember  those  words,  *'  He  left  Judea, 
and  departed  again  into  Galilee.  And  he  must  needs 
go  through  Samaria" — must  needs,  that  is  to  say,  take  an 
unusual  route  for  Galilee,  because  in  search  of  a  sinful 
one  in  Samaria,  who  knew  nothing  of  him, — thought  of 
nothing  less  than  of  him !     So,  having  set  out  on  his 


240  THE  SAVIOUR — HIS  ERE  AND  INTO  THE  WORLD. 

fatiguing  wa^^,  and  arrived  in  Samaria,  in  Sjcliar,  at  tlie 
well  of  Jacob,  "being  wearied  with  liis  journey,  be  sat 
thus  on  the  well — it  was  about  the  sixth  hour  " — waiting 
for  the  object  of  his  search.  At  length,  the  woman 
came  to  the  well  to  draw  water.  Of  course  she  addressed 
no  words  to  him.  But  he,  in  search  of  her,  was  content 
to  be  j)ainfully  misunderstood,  addressing  the  request 
to  her,  "  Give  me  to  drink."  She  saith  unto  him,  "How 
is  it  that  thou,  being  a  Jew,  askest  drink  of  me,  which 
am  a  woman  of  Samaria  ? "  Then,  you  know  how  she 
failed,  and  failed,  to  apprehend  the  meaning  of  his  most 
blessed  words,  and  how,  when  those  words  came  closer  to 
her  ungodly  life,  she  avoided  and  evaded  them,  until  at 
length  she  did  begin  to  seek  him,  saying,  "I  know  that 
Messias  cometh ;  when  he  is  come,  he  will  tell  us  all 
things,"  and  soon  after  hastening  to  the  city,  and  saying 
to  tlie  men,  "  Come,  see  a  man  which  told  me  all  things 
that  ever  I  did  ;  is  not  this  the  Christ  ?  " 

Ay,  it  was  a  somewhat  long  and  fatiguing  journey  that, 
for  our  Lord  afoot,  from  Judea  to  the  well  of  Jacob.  But 
he  had  taken  a  far  longer  and  more  fatiguing  journey, 
not  then  completed,  in  search  of  that  woman,  and  of  us 
— "  Being  in  the  form  of  God,  and  thinking  it  not  robbery 
to  be  equal  with  God,  he  made  himself  of  no  reputation, 
and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made 
in  the  likeness  of  men ;  and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a 
man,  he  humbled  himself,  and  became  obedient  unto  death, 
even  the  death  of  the  cross."  But  that  cross  was  "saving," 
as  well  as  "  seeking  " ! 

(2.)  Second,  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  save, — '•  come 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  Could  such 
seeking,  in  fact,  fail  of  finding, — fail  of  its  design, — its 
aim?  Impossible.  "What  man  of  you,"  said  Jesus, 
**  having  an  hundred  sheep,  if  he  lose  one  of  them,  doth 
not  leave  the  ninety  and  nine  in  the  wilderness,  and  go 
after  that  which  is  lost,   until  he  find  it?    And  when 


THE  SAVIOUR HIS  ERRAND  INTO  THE  WORLD.  241 

he  liatli  found  it.  lio  layotli  it  on  liis  slioulders,  rejoicing. 
And  when  he  conieth  home,  he  calleth  together  his  friends 
and  neighbours,  saying  unto  them,  Rejoice  with  me ;  for 
I  have  found  my  sheej)  which  was  lost."  In  a  very  im- 
portant sense,  let  it  be  observed,  Jesus  saved  them  all  in 
that  cross, — souglit  and  saved  the  whole  elect  Church 
— the  whole  innumerable  multitude  given  to  him  by 
the  Father  in  the  everlasting  covenant, — in  the  hour 
of  that  word,  *'  It  is  finished  ;  and  he  bowed  his  head, 
and  gave  up  the  ghost."  There  and  then  did  he  "  redeem 
them,"  as  to  the  costly  purchase  of  their  redemption,  "from 
the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  them."  They 
continued,  however,  still  actually  and  individually  lost, 
— unforgiven,  unregenerated,  under  the  curse,  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins.  But  in  due  time  does  he  save  each 
soul  of  the  unnumbered  multitude  to  the  uttermost, — 
as  thoroughly  as  if  they  were  but  one.  To  each  and  all 
of  them  does  he  make  good  that  word,  ' '  The  dead  shall 
hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  they  that  hear  shall 
live  "  :  and  that  word,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the 
life  ;  he  that  belie veth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet 
shall  he  live  "  :  and  that  word,  "  AVhen  I  passed  by  thee, 
and  saw  thee  polluted  in  thine  own  blood,  I  said  unto  thee 
when  thou  wast  in  thy  blood.  Live ;  yea,  I  said  unto  thee, 
when  thou  wast  in  thy  blood.  Live."  He  "  saves  them 
by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  He  is  made  to  each  and  all  of  them,  '*  wisdom, 
and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption" — 
wisdom,  opening  their  blind  eyes ;  righteousness,  clothing 
them  with  the  white  raiment  of  his  perfect  obedience  unto 
death,  that  the  shame  of  their  nakedness  may  not  appear  ; 
eanctihcation,  transforming  them  into  the  image  of  God; 
redemption,  now  in  the  actuality  of  it,  and  at  length,  in 
the  full  and  final  completeness  of  it,  even  '*  the  adoption, 
to  wit,  the  redemption  of  the  body." 

But  how,   brethren,  shall  I  speak  of  what  is  in  this 

Q 


242  THE  SAYIOUR — HIS  EREAND  INTO  THE  WOULD. 

word  "save," — "tlie  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  wliicli  was  lost  "  ?  My  dear  friend,  Dr  Candlisli, 
a  day  or  two  before  his  departure  from  us  all,  said  to  his 
medical  man,  "Do  you  think  it  will  be  long?  "  adding, 
"I  am  not  impatient;  I  wait  for  thy  salvation,  0  God" 
— and  then  he  broke  forth,  "  Salvation  !  what  a  word  I  " 
0  yes,  beloved,  it  is  one  thing  to  think  and  speak  of 
salvation  when  the  flush  of  health  is  on  a  man's  cheek. 
Salvation  will  seem  quite  another  thing,  to  saints  and 
sinners  both,  when  stretched  on  a  dying  bed,  and  when 
friends  around  are  waiting  for  the  last  breath — "salva- 
tion !  what  a  word  !  "  Let  me  only  say,  and  in  very  few 
words,  tliat  tliis  saving  of  the  lost  by  Christ  is  might}^ 
holy,  glorious,  everlasting. 

It  is  mighty, — almighty.  Not  that  Clirist  does  violence 
in  it  to  the  human  will,  but  only  makes  it  "willing 
in  the  day  of  his  power."  "Zaccheus,"  said  he,  "make 
haste,  and  come  down  ;  for  to  day  I  must  abide  at 
thy  house.  And  he  made  haste,  and  came  down,  and 
received  him  joyfully."  The  will  is  not  forced  in  con- 
version ;  it  is  but  sweetly,  though  mightily,  swayed, 
moved,  Godward,  Christward — as  Jesus  said,  "  Other 
sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold  ;  them  also  I 
must  bring;  and  they  shall  hear  my  voice."  "Behold, 
thou  shalt  call  a  nation  that  thou  knowest  not;  and 
nations  that  knew  not  thee  shall  run  unto  tliee."  It 
is  mighty  saving,  this  of  the  lost  by  Christ — "  Saul,  yet 
breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughter  against  the 
disciples  of  the  Lord,  went  unto  the  high  priest,  and 
desired  of  him  letters  to  Damascus  to  the  synagogues, 
that  if  he  found  any  of  this  way,  whether  they  were  men 
or  women,  he  might  bring  them  bound  unto  Jerusalem. 
And  as  he  journeyed,  he  came  near  Damascus;  and 
suddenly  there  shined  round  about  him  a  light  from 
heaven  :  and  he  fell  to  the  earth,  and  heard  a  voice 
saying  unto  him,   Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me  ? 


THE  SAVIOUII HIS  EUllAXD  INTO  THE  "WORLD.  2  13 

Ami  lio  8ai(l,  AVlio  art  thou,  Lord?  And  tlio  Lord  said, 
I  am  Jesus,  wliom  thou  porsccutest.  It  is  hard  for  thee 
to  kick  ag-ainst  the  pricks.  And  he,  trembling  and 
astonislied,  said,  Lord,  -what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?" 

And  it  is  Jiohj  saving  of  the  lost,  this  by  Christ.  Think 
of  that  Saul,  afterwards  called  Paul — ''None  of  these 
things  move  me,"  he  said  afterwards,  "neither  count  I 
my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  tliat  I  might  finish  my  course 
with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  I  have  received  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  " — 
"  To  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain."  "  We  our- 
selves also,"  wrote  he  to  Titus,  "  ivere  once  foolish, 
disobedient,  deceived,  serving  divers  lusts  and  pleasures." 
"  Thy  people  shall  be  willing  in  the  day  of  thy  power,  in 
the  beauties  of  holiness."  "  Such  were  some  of  you  :  but 
ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified 
in  tlie  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our 
God."  AVhen  Zaccheus  received  Christ  into  his  house, 
we  are  told  that  "  they  all  murmured,  saying,  that  he  was 
gone  to  be  guest  with  a  man  that  is  a  sinner.  And 
Zaccheus  stood,  and  said  unto  the  Lord" — I  suppose, 
with  no  reference  to  their  murmurings — "Behold,  Lord, 
the  half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor  ;  and  if  I  have 
taken  anything  from  any  man  by  false  accusation,  I 
restore  him  fourfold.  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  This 
day  is  salvation  come  to  this  house,  forsomuch  as  he  also 
is  a  son  of  Abraham," — a  son  of  Abraham  now  indeed, — 
a  son  of  his  faith  and  his  fidelity,  both ! 

And  it  is  glorious  saving  of  the  lost,  this  by  Christ, — 
saving  of  them  from  wrath  to  sonship  and  glory  !  Indeed, 
it  had  been  glorious,  if  it  had  been  nothing  more  than 
deliverance  from  so  great  a  ruin.  But  it  is  salvation  to 
"  a  kingdom  ;  "  "a  crown  ;  "  "a  city  that  hath  founda- 
tions, whose  builder  and  maker  is  God;  "  "  an  inheritance 
incorruptible,  and  undetiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away ;  " 
"  an  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory  "  ! 


244  THE  SAVIOUE HIS  ERRAND  INTO  THE  WORLD. 

And  thus,  once  more,  I  said  that  it  is  an  everlasting 
salvation — as  Jesus  spake,  "  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh,  and 
drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life  ;  and  I  will  raise 
him  up  at  the  last  day."  "At  thy  right  hand  there  are 
pleasures  for  evermore."  "There  shall  be  no  night 
there ;  and  they  need  no  candle,  neither  light  of  the  sun  ; 
for  the  Lord  God  giveth  them  light ;  and  they  shall  reign 
for  ever  and  ever." 

I  am  happy  that  I  shall  have  an  opportunity  of  saying 
a  few  further  words  to  the  children  of  God,  at  an  after 
part  of  this  day's  service.  For  the  present  I  close  with 
a  single  brief  remark.  While  Jesus  tells  here  of  our 
ruin,  it  is  only  in  the  act  of  publishing  deliverance  out 
of  it.  Here,  and  in  other  places,  where  he  has  occasion 
to  make  discovery  of  our  undone  condition,  he  does  it  not 
directly, — as  of  set  purpose, — as  if  anywise  courting  the 
mournful  theme,  but  only  in  the  act  of  proclaiming  the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation — thus,  "  God  so  loved  the  world, 
that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  him  should  not  jDerish  " — it  comes  indirectly  out 
that  they  were  perishing — "  but  have  everlasting  life." 
It  is  much  as  in  the  Old  Testament,  where  we  hear  of  the 
heart  of  sto7ie,  only  in  the  blessed  promise,  "  I  will  take 
away  the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you 
a  heart  of  flesh."  So  in  the  text,  "The  Son  of  man  is 
come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  Oh  to  be 
"  able  to  comprehend,  with  all  saints,  what  is  the  breadth, 
and  length,  and  depth,  and  height ;  and  to  know  the  love 
of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge " !  And  "unto  Him 
that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we 
ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us, 
unto  Him  be  glory  in  the  church  by  Christ  Jesus,  throughout 
all  ages,  world  without  end.     Amen." 


PULPIT  ADDRESS  BEFORE  COMMUNION.  245 


2.  Pulpit  Address  before  Communion. 

Will  you  turn  Avitli  mo,  for  a  very  little,  to  tlie  eleventh 
chapter  of  1st  Corinthians,  and  read  at  the  twenty- third 
verse? — **  For  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  that  which 
also  I  delivered  unto  you.  That  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  same 
nig-lit  in  which  he  was  betra3'ed,  took  bread  ;  and,  when  ho 
had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it,  and  said,  Take  eat ;  this  is 
my  bod}-,  which  is  broken  for  you  :  this  do  in  remembrance 
of  me.  After  the  same  manner  also  he  took  the  cup, 
when  he  had  supped,  saying.  This  cup  is  the  new  testa- 
ment in  my  blood :  this  do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in 
remembrance  of  me.  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread, 
and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  shew  the  Lord's  death  till  he 
come.  AVherefore,  whosoever  shall  eat  this  bread,  and 
drink  this  cup  of  the  Lord,  unworthily,  shall  be  guilty  of 
the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord.  But  let  a  man  examine 
himself,  and  so  let  him  eat  of  that  bread,  and  drink  of 
that  cup." 

Is  this  supper  of  the  Lord,  brethren,  an  ordinance 
of  thanlcsgiviiig, — of  all  thanks  and  praise  to  God  for 
tlie  redemption  that  is  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  ?  Then 
those,  and  only  those,  can  be  fit  and  welcome  guests 
at  it,  who  are  capable  of  giving  thanks  for  that  redemp- 
tion, by  not  being  altogether  strangers  to  it,  but  par- 
takers of  it  in  very  deed.  Fain  would  I  indicate  very 
simply,  shortly,  and  with  all  tender  fidelity,  as  the  Lord 
may  enable  me,  who  they  are  that  are  strangers  to 
the  great  redemption, — that  are  not  verily  partakers  of 
it.  Dear  hearers,  we  have  all  heard  of  it  from  our 
earliest  years,  and  may  long  have  known  everything 
about  it  intellectually.  But  we  are  strangers  to  the 
redemption  that  is  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  if 
we  have  never  seen  and  felt  our  absolute  need  of 
it;    if  no  heart-affecting,  soul-mastering,  discoveries   of 


246  PULPIT  ADDRESS  BEFORE  COMMUNIOX. 

it  have  been  ever  made  to  us,  and  by  us,  as  Grod's 
blessed  provision  for  our  need  ;  if  we  have  never,  for 
ourselves,  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  on  it ;  if  we  are  not 
habitually  falling  in  with  the  holy  ends  and  designs  of  it 
in  our  lives. 

We  are  strangers,  I  say,  to  the  redemption  that  is 
by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  if  we  have  never  seen  and 
felt  our  absolute  need  of  it.  How  is  it  with  us  as  to 
this?  Have  we  ever  taken  our  place,  deliberately,  in 
that  humbling  word  of  my  text,  *'lost," — in  that  descrip- 
tion of  the  objects  of  the  Saviour's  errand  into  the  world, 
"the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
was  lost^' ?  Have  we  been  verily  convinced  of  our 
undone  condition,  as  breakers  of  the  divine  law  ?  Were 
we  ever  arraigned,  as  it  were,  in  heart  and  conscience, 
before  the  divine  bar,  and  made  there  to  say.  Guilty, 
Lord,  guilty — Unclean,  unclean — "Against  thee,  thee 
onty,  have  I  sinned ;  that  thou  mightest  be  justified 
when  thou  speakest,  and  be  clear  when  thou  judgest" — 
"Woe  is  me,  for  I  am  undone;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen 
the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts  "  ?  Have  we  ever  known 
what  that  meaneth,  "  The  wages  of  sin  is  death  "  ?  Have 
we  ever  responded,  from  our  inmost  souls,  to  the  voice, 
"Without  the  shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission" — 
"Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  drink 
his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you"  ?  "  Search  me,  0  God, 
and  know  my  heart  "  ! 

Again,  I  said  that  we  are  strangers  to  the  redemption 
that  is  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  if  no  heart-afi'ecting, 
soul-mastering,  discoveries  of  it  have  been  ever  made 
to  us,  and  by  us,  as  God's  blessed  provision  for  our  need. 
I  say  lieart-offecting^  soul-mastering,  because  we  have  all 
known  the  form  of  the  doctrine,  so  to  speak.  But  the 
hinge  of  salvation  lies  here  much  more  in  the  doctrine 
having  mastered  us,  than  in  our  having  mastered  the  doc- 
trine.    Oh,  was  it  ever  as  music  to  our  ears  to  listen  to  that 


rULriT  ADDRESS  BEFORE  COMMUXIOX.  217 

voice,  '*  Tlie  LaiuT)  of  God,  whicli  takclli  away  tlu;  sin  of 
the  world  " — "A  just  God  and  a  ^^aviour  " — "  Glory  to 
God  in  the  liig;liest,  and  on  earth  pca(3e,  goodwill  toward 
men" — "  Tlie  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
tliat  which  was  lost "  ? 

Further  I  said,  that  wo  are  strangers  to  the  redemption 
that  is  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  if  we  have  never,  for 
ourselves,  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  on  it.  AVere  we 
ever  "  shut  up  unto  the  faith"  ?  ever  made  to  say,  Avith 
one  of  old,  "Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go?  thou  hast  the 
words  of  eternal  life  ;  and  we  believe  and  are  sure  that 
thou  art  that  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God " — 
"  Lord,  save  me,  I  perish" — "  My  trust  is  intlice  ;  let  me 
never  be  confounded" — "  I  believe,  Lord,  help  thou  my 
unbelief"? 

Once  more  I  said,  that  we  are  strangers  to  the  redemp- 
tion that  is  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  if  M^e  are  not 
habitually  falling  in  with  the  holy  ends  and  designs  of  it 
in  our  lives.  AVliat  these  designs  are,  Scripture  tells 
with  no  uncertain  sound — "  AVho  gave  himself  for  our 
sins,  that  he  might  deliver  us  from  this  present  evil  M^orld, 
according  to  the  will  of  God  and  our  Father."  "  Created 
in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works."  "  Theie  is  forgiveness 
with  thee,  that  thou  mayest be  feared."  "That  we,  being 
delivered  out  of  the  hand  of  our  enemies,  might  serve  him 
without  fear,  in  holiness  and  righteousness  before  him, 
all  the  days  of  our  life."  Are  we  falling  in  with  these 
designs?  are  we  following  them  out,  prosecuting  them  ? 
Or  is  it  with  us,  after  all,  but  as  Judas's  "  Hail,  Master  ; 
and  he  kissed  him  "  ?  Is  inward  corruption  our  burden  ? 
Is  holiness  in  heart  and  life  our  very  aim  ?  Are  we  "  exer- 
cising ourselves  herein,"  with  however  imperfect  success, 
*'  to  have  always  a  conscience  void  of  offence  toward  God, 
and  toward  men"?  Of  course,  if  we  are  living  in  any 
way  of  known  iniquity  —as  intemperance,  or  licentiousness, 
or  fraudulent  dealing,  or  nudice  and  hatred — there  needs 


248  PULPIT  ADDRESS  BEFORE  COM:srU]S"IOX. 

be  no  further  questiouing  as  to  our  condition.  But  apart 
from  all  such  palpable  iniquities,  is  Christian  sanctiiication 
our  pursuit?  Is  the  apostle's  cry  ours,  "Who  shall 
deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death?"  and  David's, 
"  Oh  that  my  Avays  were  directed  to  keep  thy  statutes  !  " 
' '  Teach  me  to  do  thy  will ;  for  thou  art  my  God  :  thy 
Spirit  is  good ;  lead  me  into  the  land  of  righteousness  "  ? 
And  yet,  dear  brethren,  I  doubt  not  that  there  may 
be  those  among  us,  who  are  not  able  easily  to  persuade 
themselves  that  they  can  give  an  affirmative  answer  to 
these  questions, — not  able  easily  to  persuade  themselves 
that  they  are  partakers  of  the  great  redemption,  and 
so  capable  of  giving  thanks  for  it  to  day  at  Christ's 
table, — to  whom  nevertheless  He  would  say,  "0  my 
dove,  that  art  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  in  the  secret 
places  of  the  stairs,  let  me  see  thy  countenance,  let 
me  hear  thy  voice,  for  sweet  is  thy  voice,  and  thy  coun- 
tenance is  comely."  More  than  once  I  have  reminded 
you  of  the  answer  given  in  our  Larger  Catechism  to 
the  Cjuestion,  "May  one  who  doubteth  of  his  being  in 
Christ,  or  of  his  due  preparation,  come  to  the  Lord's 
Supper?"  The  answer  is,  "One  who  doubteth  of  his 
being  in  Christ,  or  of  his  due  preparation  to  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Supper,  may  have  true  interest  in  Christ, 
though  he  be  not  yet  assured  thereof;  and  in  God's 
account  hath  it,  if  he  be  duly  affected  with  the  apprelien- 
sion  of  the  want  of  it,  and  unfeignedly  desires  to  be  found 
in  Christ,  and  to  depart  from  iniquity  :  in  which  case 
( because  promises  are  made,  and  this  Sacrament  is 
appointed,  for  the  relief  even  of  weak  and  doubting 
Christians)  he  is  to  bewail  his  unbelief,  and  labour  to 
have  his  doubts  resolved,  and,  so  doing,  he  may  and 
ought  to  come  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  that  he  may  be 
further  strengthened."  Eemember  well  your  undoubted 
warrant  to  come  to  the  Saviour  himself,  just  as  you  are  ; 
and,  coming  to  him,  your  warrant  to  come  also  to  his 


COMMUNION  TABLE  ADDllESS.  2  19 

table.  '*  lie  g-ivotli  power  to  [lie  fiiiiit;  and  to  tlioin  that 
have  no  miylit,  ho  increasoth  streiig'tli."  "A  bruiscMl 
reed  shall  ho  not  break,  and  smokinf^  Ihax  shall  ho  not 
quench,  till  he  send  forth  judgment  unto  victory."  There^ 
I  am  quite  sure,  is  a  wortliy  communicant,  "  The  publican, 
standing  afar  off,  would  not  lift  up  so  much  as  his  eyes 
unto  lieaven,  but  smote  upon  his  breast,  saying,  God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  May  the  Lord  bless  his  "word  ! 
Amen. 


3.  Communion  Table  Address. 

BEFOnE  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  ELEMENTS. 

Already,  Communicants,  I  trust  we  have  seen  somewhat 
of  the  grace  and  love  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  as  they  come  out 
in  the  remarkable  fact,  of  his  taking  to  himself  so 
constantl}',  in  preference  to  every  other  name,  that  of 
'Uhe  Son  of  man," — the  fact,  that  having  come  into  our 
world  to  save  the  chief  of  sinners,  b}''  assuming  our  nature, 
and  bearing  in  it  our  sin  and  our  curse,  he  was  so  far 
from  being  "ashamed  to  call  us  brethren,"  that  he 
delighted,  above  every  other  title,  to  take  the  name  of 
our  lowly  nature,  just  as  the  nature  in  which  he  could 
and  would  suffer,  and  agonize,  and  die,  "the  Just  for  the 
unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God"  ! 

Behold  a  like  manifestation  of  the  Saviour's  grace  and 
love,  in  that  all-precious  psalm  of  liis  sutferings,  opening, 
"  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  where 
he  thus  prays,  "  Deliver  my  soul  from  the  sword,  nnj  darling 
from  the  power  of  the  dog."  Oh,  he  calls  tliat  human 
soul  ^^llicll  he  took  up  into  his  Lerson,  his  "darling" — 
dear,  only,  joined,  one,  as  tlie  word  means — most  dear 
to  him  because  capable  of  all  the  agony,  desertion,  tempta- 
tion,  exceeding  sorrow  unto  death,  of  which  the  psalm 


250  COMMUXIOX  TABLE  ADDRESS. 

So,  again,  Iiow  touching  is  the  evangelist  John's  account 
of  the  vi'aj  in  which  Judas  came  to  know  the  place  where 
lie  should  find  the  Saviour  to  betray  him,  ''  Judas,"  says 
he,  "wliicli  betrayed  him,  knew  the  place;  for  Jesus 
ofttimes  resorted  thither  with  his  disciples"!  It  seems 
that,  far  from  having  avoided  that  garden,  where,  at 
length,  "his  sweat  was  to  be  as  great  drops  of  blood, 
falling  down  to  the  ground,"  he  had  been  wont  to  refresh 
his  sph-it  by  "  resorting  to  it  ofttimes  with  his  disciples," 
— retreating  from  the  turmoil,  from  the  tumult  and  wicked- 
ness, of  Jerusalem,  to  the  very  scene  of  his  after  agony 
and  betraj^al  into  the  hands  of  sinful  men  ! 

But  perhaps  most  remarkable  of  all  to  the  same  purpose 
(although  we  liave  grown  so  familiar  with  the  words  as 
probably  to  fail  of  apprehending  their  wondrous  character), 
it  is  written  that,  when  our  Lord  instituted  that  feast  of 
love  which  we  are  to  celebrate  to  day,  *'he  took  bread, 
and  ffaue  thanks,  saying,  This  is  my  body  broken  for  you," 
and  again,  "when  he  had  taken  the  cup,  gave  thanlcs, 
sa}'ing,  This  cup  is  my  blood  of  the  new  covenant,  shed 
for  the  remission  of  the  sins  of  many."  Oh,  well  might 
ive  be  expected  to  give  thanks  for  that  body  broken, 
and  blood  slied,  for  our  sins.  But  Jesus,  whose  body 
and  blood  they  were,  gave  thanks  for  them,  —  gave 
thanks  that  ever  he  had  a  body  to  break,  and  blood 
to  pour  forth,  for  remission  of  our  sins !  Who  shall  tell 
what  that  human  soul,  and  human  body,  had  already 
cost  him,  those  three  and  thirty  years  long?  Now,  he  is 
looking  immediately  forward  to  the  soul  agonized,  sore 
amazed,  exceeding  sorrowful  even  unto  death ;  and  to  the 
body  scourged,  spit  upon,  cro^'ned  with  thorns,  crucified 
with  thieves.  Yet  he  gives  thanks,  saying.  This  is  my 
body  broken  for  you ;  this  is  my  blood  shed  for  you,  for 
the  remission  of  sins  ! 

Much  as,  in  the  book  of  Proverbs,  he  had  spoken, 
"I  was  set  up  from  eyerlasting,  from  the  beginning,  or 


COMMUNION  TABLE  ADDRESS.  251 

ever  tlio  oartli  Ava"^.  .  .  .  Then  Avas  I  Ly  lilm,  as  oik? 
broug'lit  up  witli  him,  and  I  was  daily  his  deliglit,  rejoicing 
always  heforo  him;  rejoicing  in  the  habitable  part  of  his 
eartli;  iuid  wy  delights  were  with  the  sons  ofmen^^''  so,  it  seems 
that  in  liis  whole  wondrous  life  on  earth,  his  "deliglits" 
were  still  with  tlie  sons  of  men.  Full  fifty  different  times, 
as  I  said,  did  he  choose  to  call  liimself  by  the  name,  ''  the 
Son  of  man  " !  And  shall  not  our  "  deliglits  "  be  now,  and 
for  ever,  with  this  blessed  One  ?  Shall  lie  not  be  our 
joy,  our  love,  our  theme,  our  rapturous  praise,  for  ever? 
Shall  we  not  give  tlianks  to  day  for  his  body  broken, 
and  blood  shed,  for  our  sins  '?  True,  indeed,  our  thanks- 
givings, at  the  best  of  them,  are  poor  and  feeble.  But 
we  Avill  place  them  in  the  hand,  and  in  the  fellowship, 
of  Ilis,  and  they  shall  rise  perfumed  and  accepted  before 
the  throne.  And  we  will  mingle  with  them  prayers  and 
supplications,  hearing  liis  voice,  AYhat  is  thy  petition? 
and  what  is  thy  request?  0  golden  moments  now  before 
us  at  this  table !  Precious  beyond  all  price,  for  prayer, 
our  interval  now  of  unbroken  silence  !  Gcdden  silence 
for  prayer, — prayer  for  ourselves, — our  souls,  our  work, 
duties,  perplexities,  trials  ;  prayer  for  our  beloved  fami- 
lies, each  member  of  them  by  name  ;  prayer  for  the  whole 
family  of  God  ;  prayer  for  the  Eedeemer's  kingdom  and 
cause  and  glory  in  the  world!  "I  am  come  into  my 
garden,  my  sister,  my  spouse  :  I  have  gathered  my  myrrh 
with  my  spice  ;  I  have  eaten  my  honej'comb  with  my 
honey ;  I  have  drunk  my  wine  with  my  milk  :  eat,  0 
friends  ;  drink,  yea,  drink  abundantly,  0  beloved." 


AFTER  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  ELEMENTS. 

And  now.  Communicants,  would  tliat  our  Avholo  lif(i 
were  a  prolonged  Eucharist,  —  a  continued  thanksgiving 
service  !     Oh  lor  more,  mucli  more,  thanksgiving  in  our 


252  COIJMUNION  TABLE  ADDRESS. 

lives  !  How  wanting  are  we  in  this  heavenliest  of 
exercises,  whereof  so  much  is  made  in  Scripture,  and  in 
which  God  takes  so  much  delight!  '' AVhoso  offeretli 
praise  glorifieth  me" — "Giving  thanks  always,  for  all 
things,  to  God,  even  the  Father  " — ''  Thou  art  holy,  thou 
that  inhahitest  the  praises  of  Israel."  Would  that  our 
thanksgivings  and  praises  might  so  "wait  for  God  in 
Sion,"  that  he  should  vouchsafe,  as  it  were  to  come  down, 
and  dwell  in  them  ! 

But,  in  another  great  sense,  is  our  whole  life  to  be 
a  thanksgiving  service, — a  service,  animated,  prompted, 
pervaded,  by  holy  thankfulness,  —  a  life  of  grateful, 
devoted  service,  in  the  spirit  of  the  words,  "The  love 
of  Christ  constraineth  us  ;  because  we  thus  judge,  that 
if  one  died  for  all,  then  all  died;  and  that  he  died  for 
all,  that  they  which  live  should  not  henceforth  live  unto 
themselves,  but  unto  him  which  died  for  them  and  rose 
again."  "0  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant;  I  am  thy 
servant,  and  the  son  of  thine  handmaid  :  thou  hast  loosed 
my  bonds." 

Two  features  of  this  life-service  have  suggested  them- 
selves to  me  from  our  meditations  of  to  day.  The  one 
of  them  is,  Watchfulness.  For  I  took  occasion,  in  illus- 
trating that  last,  solemn,  word  of  my  text,  "  lost,"  to 
refer  to  the  question  which  is  asked  respecting  a  sinner 
saved  by  grace,  "  Is  not  this  a  brand  plucked  out  of  the 
fire?"  But  remember  how  easily  some  brand  snatched 
from  a  burning  would  catch  the  fire  again,  if  brought 
heedlessly  within  its  reach.  "Be  not  conformed  to  this 
world  " — "  Enter  not  into  the  path  of  the  wicked,  and  go 
not  in  the  Avay  of  evil  men.  Avoid  it,  pass  not  by  it, 
turn  from  it,  and  pass  away  " — "  Keep  thy  heart  with  all 
diligence" — "Watch  and  pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into 
temptation."  And  the  other  feature  is,  Winning  words 
for  Christ  to  those  around  us.  Oh,  have  we  known,  by 
blessed  experience  of  it,  that  "  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to 


COMMUNION  TABLE  ADDllESS.  25;3 

Beck  and  to  save  that  wliidi  was  lost "  ?  And  sliall  our 
lips  be  sealed  about  tluit  Saviour, — his  blessed  errand, 
— his  great  salvation  ?  *'  One  of  the  two  wliicli  heard 
John  speak,  and  followed  him,  was  Andrew,  Simon  Peter's 
brother.  lie  first  fmdelh  his  own  brother  Simon,  and 
saith  unto  him,  AVe  have  found  the  Messias."  "  riiilij) 
lindeth  Nathanael,  and  saith  unto  him,  We  have  found 
liim  of  wliom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the  prophets,  did 
write."  Beloved,  this  belongs  not  to  ministers  alone. 
Tliat  saved  Samaritan  woman  said  to  the  men  of  her 
town,  "  Come,  see  a  man,  which  told  me  all  things  that 
ever  I  did:  is  not  this  the  Christ?"  "The  Spirit  and 
ilie  bride  say,  Come.  And  let  Jim  that  heareth  say. 
Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come :  and  whoso- 
ever will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely."  *'  Now 
unto  Him  that  is  able  to  ]<eep  3'ou  from  falling,  and  to 
present  you  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory 
with  exceeding  joy,  to  the  only  wise  God  our  Saviour, 
be  glory  and  majesty,  dominion  and  power,  both  now 
and  ever.     Amen." 


254 


4.  Evening  Sermon. 


FEAK  AXD  FAITH. 


"  xind  Jacob  said,  0  God  of  my  fatlicr  Abraham,  and 
God  of  my  father  Isaac,  the  Lord  ivhich  saidst  unto  me, 
Return  unto  thy  country,  and  to  thy  kindred,  and  I  will 
deal  well  with  thee:  T  am  not  loortliy  of  the  least  of  all 
the  mercies,  and  of  all  the  truth,  which  thou  hast  shewed 
unto  thy  servant ;  for  ivith  my  staff  I  j^assed  over  this 
Jordan,  and  now  I  am  become  two  bands.  Deliver  me, 
I  pray  thee,  from  the  hand  of  my  brother,  from  the 
hand  of  Esau :  for  I  fear  him,  lest  he  will  come  and 
smite  me,  and  the  mother  with  the  children.  And  thou 
saidst,  I  will  surely  do  thee  good,  and  make  thy  seed  as 
the  sand  of  the  sea,  which  cannot  be  numbered  for 
?;m?^i^w(Ze."— Genesis  xxxii.  9-12. 

Text — "  I  fear  him.  .   .  .     And  thou  saidst.'" 

Jacob's  fear,  and  Jacob's  faitli — ''  I  fear  liim  :  and  thou 
saidst."  Whether  is  that  a  contrast,  or  a  connection,  or 
both  ?  I  believe  that  it  is  both.  And  I  have  linked  the 
two  together  as  the  text,  because  they  will  be  found  to 
stand  thus  related  by  the  double  tie  of  contrast  and  con- 
nection,— deep,  painful  contrast,  and  yet  strangely  close 
kindredness  also  and  connection — the  fear  with  the  faith 
— "I  fear  him  :  and  thou  saidst." 

I.  First,  look  for  a  little  with  me  at  iJie  fear, — Jacob's 
fear  at  this  time — "I  fear  him,"  said  he. 

1.  My  first  remark  respecting  the  fear  is,  that  there  was 
a  great  deal  of  unworthy  unbelief  in  it.  I  would  not,  indeed, 
be  misunderstood  in  this.     It  is  not  that  fear  is  by  any 


TEA  It  AND  FAITir.  2b <) 

moans  necossaril}', — always, — the  offspring  and  tlio  sign 
of  unbelief.  It  may,  on  the  contraiy,  be  the  offspring  and 
the  sign  of  faith.  Everything  depends  as  to  this  on  the 
kind  of  fear, — the  grounds  and  the  circumstances  of  it. 
Thus,  it  is  written  that  "by  faith  Noah,  being  warned  of 
God  of  things  not  seen  as  yet,  moved  with  fear,  prepared 
an  ark  to  the  saving  of  liis  house."  That  fear  2vas  faitli, 
in  fact.  It  was  more  than  the  fruit  of  faith, — it  w'as 
faith  itself.  So  often  as  a  danger  is  real  and  imminent, 
fear  is,  at  the  least,  wise  and  prudent  ;  and  if  tlic 
danger  be  one  which  God  has  revealed  to  us  in  his 
word,  fear  is  an  essential  element  in  faith.  But  see  the 
fear  of  Jacob,  at  this  time.  What  did  he  fear  ?  and 
how?  "The  messengers  returned  to  him" — we  read  at 
verse  sixth — '*  saying,  We  came  to  thy  brother  Esau,  and 
also  he  cometh  to  meet  thee,  and  four  hundred  men  with 
him.  Then  Jacob  was  greatly  afraid  and  distressed" 
— "  I  fear  him,  lest  he  will  come  and  smite  me,  and  the 
mother  with  the  children."  Ah,  smite  that  mother,  and 
those  children,  and  destroy  the  everlasting  covenant  ! 
destroy  both  the  Church  of  God,  and  all  the  hopes  of  the 
world !  Impossible,  Jacob.  At  Bethel,  twenty  years 
before,  had  not  the  Lord  said  to  the  patriarch,  "  Behold, 
I  am  with  thee,  and  will  keep  thee  in  all  places  Mhither 
thou  goest,  and  will  bring  thee  again  into  this  land ;  for 
I  will  not  leave  thee,  until  I  have  done  that  which  I  have 
spoken  to  thee  of"?  Neither  had  he  set  out  on  this 
journey  back  to  Canaan,  until  the  Lord  had  said  expressly 
to  him — as  he  pleads,  indeed,  at  the  opening  of  this  very 
prayer — "Return  unto  thy  countr}',  and  to  thy  kindred, 
and  I  will  deal  well  with  thee."  And  then,  had  not  the 
Lord  vouchsafed  to  him,  as  he  journeyed,  that  vision  of 
angels,  protecting  angels,  of  which  Jacob  said  (second 
verse),  "This  is  God's  host,"  calling  the  name  of  the 
place  "Mahanaim" — two  hosts,  or  camps?  No  doubt 
there  was  ample  room,  without  any  unbelief,  for  prayer 


256  TEAR  AND  FAITH. 

in  reference  to  Esau,  and  for  the  use  also  of  all  suitable 
and  prudent  means.  But  this  was  panic, — nothing  less 
than  panic, — "  He  cometh  to  meet  thee,  and  four  hundred 
men  with  him :  then  Jacob  was  greatly  afraid  and  dis- 
tressed." One  can  scarce  help  suspecting  that  the  old 
sins  had  flashed  across  the  memory  and  conscience  of  the 
patriarch, — that  he  had  been  made  at  this  hour  to  ''pos- 
sess the  iniquities  of  his  youth"  (as  Job  speaks), — that 
in  his  alarm  there  was  not  a  little  remorseful  remembrance 
of  the  old  subtlety,  and  the  old  falsehood — "I  fear  him, 
lest  he  will  come  and  smite  me,  and  the  mother  with  the 
children."  Assuredly,  there  was  in  the  fear  a  great  deal 
i)f  unworthy  unbelief. 

2.  And  yet,  secondly,  thf-re  teas  not  icaniing  in  it  an 
element^  hind  red  at  least  to  faith.  "I  fear  him,"  said 
he,  "lest  he  will  come  and  smite  me,  and  the  mother 
with  the  children."  He  is  alarmed  for  the  whole  seed 
and  family  of  the  Divine  promise — "lest  he  will  come 
and  smite  me,  and  the  mother  with  the  children.  And 
thou  saidst,  I  will  surely  do  thee  good,  and  make  thy 
seed  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  which  cannot  be  numbered 
for  multitude."  True,  he  might  have  left  the  Divine 
promise,  —  ought  to  have  left  it  tranquilly,  —  in  the 
keeping  of  the  Divine  power  and  faithfulness.  Still, 
this  is  no  mere  craven  dread  of  his  personal  safety,  nor 
of  that  even  of  his  beloved  family,  simply  as  such,  but  for 
that  family  as  in  relation  to  the  Divine  covenant,  with 
which  his  own  hopes  for  eternity,  and  the  welfare  of 
all  the  families  of  the  earth,  were  bound  up.  There 
was  an  element  in  his  fear,  I  say,  kindred  at  least 
to  faith.  And  is  it  not  somewhat  thus,  brethren,  that 
even  in  the  unbelieving  fears  of  God's  children  in  every 
age,  there  are  to  be  traced  elements,  ofttimes,  more 
or  less  allied  to  faith,  —  separating  them,  by  a  wide 
distance,  from  the  fears  of  hypocrites  and  ungodly  men, 
— of  those  "  fearful  and  unbelieving  "  of  whom  the  Holy 


FEAR  AND  FAITH.  25  i 

Ghost  spoalvs  in  tlio  Apocalypse  ?  Do  you  remember,  for 
example,  John  liunyan's  "Fearing" — that  deeply  touch- 
ing character  in  the  second  part  of  the  Pilgrim  ?  Great- 
heart  says  of  liim,  *'  Why,  he  was  always  afraid  that  he 
should  come  short  of  whither  he  had  a  desire  to  go.  .  .  . 
WJien  we  were  come  to  the  place  where  the  three  fellows 
were  hanged,  he  said  that  he  doubted  that  would  be  his 
end  also.  Only  he  seemed  glad  when  he  saw  the  Cross 
and  the  Sepulchre.  There,  I  confess,  he  desired  to  stay  a 
little  to  look ;  and  he  seemed  for  a  Avliile  after  to  be  a 
little  cheery.  When  he  came  at  the  hill  Difficulty,  he 
made  no  stick  at  that ;  nor  did  he  much  fear  the  lions  : 
for  you  must  know  that  his  trouble  was  not  about  such 
things  as  these ;  his  fear  was  about  his  acceptance  at  last. 
.  .  .  AVhen  he  was  come  to  Yanity-Fair,  I  thought  he 
would  have  fought  with  all  the  men  in  the  fair.  Upon 
the  enchanted  ground  he  also  was  very  wakeful.  But, 
when  he  came  at  the  river  where  there  was  no  bridge, 
there  again  he  was  in  a  heavy  case.  Now,  now,  he  said, 
he  should  be  drowned  for  ever,  and  so  never  see  that  face 
with  comfort  that  ho  had  come  so  many  miles  to  behold." 
0  yes,  I  think  that  in  the  fears  of  the  desponding  child 
of  God,  it  is  not  so  much  the  mere  dread  of  wrath  and 
hell,  considered  in  general,  as  it  is  the  dread  of  coming 
short  of  the  holiness  in  heart  and  in  life,  which  he  has 
longed  and  prayed  and  striven  after, — of  never  seeing  in 
peace  the  face  of  Him  who,  amid  all  his  fears,  is  in  his 
eye,  "the  chiefest  among  ten  thousand,  and  altogether 
lovely."  "I  fear  him,"  said  Jacob,  "lest  he  will  come 
and  smite  me,  and  the  mother  with  the  children."  There 
was  an  element  in  the  fear  kindred,  at  least,  to  faith. 

3.  And,  thirdly,  I  observe  on  Jacob's  fear,  that,  amid 
all  its  unworthincss,  it  ivas  a  fear  told  freely  out  to  God^ — 
laid  hare  before  the  omniscient  One — "  I  fear  him,"  says 
he,  speaking  to  Jehovah.  0  yes,  "Jacob  was  greatly 
afraid  and  distressed" — that  is  one  thing.     But  this  is 

11 


258  FEAR  AND  FAITH. 

quite  another — Jacob's  antioipating-,  as  it  were,  that  after- 
invitation  of  Scripture,  "  Pour  ye  out  your  heart  before 
him," — '*  0  God  of  my  father  Abraham,  and  God  of  my 
father  Isaac,  I  fear  him."  Do  not  misunderstand  it, 
brethren.  It  is  not  that  Jacob  was  unconscious  of  any- 
thing- to  be  ashamed  of  in  his  fears,  and  so  told  them 
out  to  the  Lord.  I  doubt  not  that  he  was  conscious  of 
much  mournful  unbelief  in  them.  But  then,  he  could 
only  make  things  worse  by  going  away  from  God  with 
his  alarms,  and  cherishing  them  sullenly  at  a  distance 
from  him.  He  must  bring  them  to  God,  must  unbosom 
himself  of  them  to  Ilim,  must  have  no  secrets,  no  con- 
cealments, with  Him — "  0  Lord,^^  says  he,  "  I  fear  him." 
A  great  lesson  this,  beloved,  for  us  in  reference  to  our 
difficulties,  temptations,  fears — that  we  bring  them  all  to 
the  Lord, — tell  them  freely  out  to  Him.  It  may  be 
that  our  fears  are  weak  and  foolish, — such  as  others 
might  only  smile  at.  Or  it  may  be  that  they  are  deeply 
unworth}^,  and  such  as  we  should  be  ashamed  to  tell 
to  others.  But  they  shall  be  much  more  than  safe 
with  God.  Let  us  tell  them  to  Him,  hearing  the 
voice,  "Bring  them  hither  to  me."  Said  Jesus  to  the 
two  sorrowing  ones  on  the  way  to  Emmaus,  "What 
things?"— 

''  A  strangei'  join'cl  them,  courteous  as  a  frieud, 
And  ask'd  them,  with  a  kind  engaging  air, 
What  their  affliction  was,  and  begg'd  a  share," 

"  0  my  dove,  that  art  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  in  the 
secret  places  of  the  stairs,  let  me  see  thy  countenance,  let 
me  hear  thy  voice."  The  men  of  this  world  have  their 
fears;  but  tliey  have  them  away  from  God,  and  are 
driven  by  them  yet  further  and  further  away  from  him — 
"Felix  trembled,  and  answered.  Go  thy  way  for  this 
time ;  when  I  have  a  convenient  season  I  will  call  for 
thee."     The  child  of  God  brings  his  fears  to  the  Lord, 


FEAll  AND  FAITH.  259 

and  is  thus  driven  at  least,  if  not  sweetly  drawn,  by  tlieni 
nearer  to  Ilini. 

4.  And  this  is  my  foiivth  and  last  remark  on  Jacob's 
fear.  As  it  was  a  fear  told  freely  out  to  the  Lord,  so  H 
shut  up  Jacob  the  more  to  the  Lordj  and  to  his  word  of 
promise.  *'  I  fear  him,  lest  he  will  come  and  smite  mo, 
and  the  mother  with  the  children.  And  thou  saidst,  I 
will  surely  do  thee  good."  See  how  he  breaks  and 
bursts  through  the  very  heart  of  his  fear  into  the  presence 
and  promise  of  the  Lord,  ^^  and  thou  saidst^^^ — as  if  he 
had  said.  Lord,  "I  fear  him;"  but,  "to  whom  shall  I 
go  ?  thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life  " — *'  I  fear  liim  ; 
and  thou  saidst,  I  will  surely  do  thee  good,  and  make 
thy  seed  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  which  cannot  be  num- 
bered for  multitude."  As  I  observed  at  the  outset,  it  is 
both  a  contrast  and  a  connection, — a  deep,  painful  con- 
trast, but  a  strangely  close  kindredness  also  and  connec- 
tion— **  I  fear  him  :  and  thou  saidst." 

II.  And  thus  are  we  brought  to  the  second  thing  which 
here  invites  our  thoughts,  JacoWs  faith,  "  Thou  saidst" — 
— "I  fear  him  :  and  thou  saidst.'^ 

1.  AVell;  the  things  that  have  been  already  said  have 
prepared  us  for  my  first  remark  on  the  faith,  which  is, 
that  it  is  faith  in  conflict,  —  faith  in  a  straggle  tvith  unlelief 
and  fear — "I  fear  him,  lest  he  will  come  and  smite  mo, 
and  the  mother  with  the  children.  And  thou  saidst,  I  will 
surely  do  thee  good,  and  make  thy  seed  as  the  sand  of 
the  sea,  which  cannot  be  numbered  for  multitude."  In- 
deed, one  reading  the  last  verse  alone,  might  suppose 
there  was  no  room  left  for  unbelief, — for  fear.  And  so 
mere  theorists,  and  perfectionists,  will  have  it  to  bo, 
ever,  with  the  Christian's  faith.  But  the  fact  is  tlio 
reverse — **  Jacob  was  greatly  afraid  and  distressed  " — 
* '  I  fear  him,  lest  he  will  come  and  smite  me,  and  the 
mother  with  the  children."     It  reminds  one  of  David  in 


260  FEAR  AND  FAIT  11. 

the  forty-second  psalm,  "Why  art  thou  cast  down,  0  my 
soul?  and  why  art  thou  disquieted  in  me?"  But  in  the 
very  next  verse,  "  0  my  God,"  says  he,  ''my  soul  is  cast 
down  within  me."  So  here,  behold  the  spectacle  of 
unbelief  and  faith  at  work  side  by  side — not  only  in  the 
same  man, — in  the  same  breast, — but  in  the  same  prayer, 
— the  same  devotional  exercise,  "I  fear  him:  and  thou 
saidst."  Strange  spectacle !  And  yet  not  strange,  as  if 
it  were  at  all  infrequent.  Is  it  not  just  thus  with  God's 
children  in  every  age  ?  "  What  will  ye  see  in  the 
Shulamite?  As  it  were  the  company  of  two  armies" 
— "the  flesh  lusting  against  the  spirit,  and  the  spirit 
against  the  flesh," — unbelief,  faith — despondency,  hope — 
terror,  trust — struggling  together,  like  Jacob  and  Esau 
in  the  womb  of  their  mother,  when  Eebecca  said,  "  If  it 
be  so,  why  am  I  thus?"  At  one  time  faith  seems 
to  have  trampled  unbelief  finally  under  its  feet.  But 
anon  unbelief  rises  from  the  ground  in  giant  strength, 
and  seems  to  threaten  the  very  existence  and  life  of  faith. 
Ah  !  when  the  memory  of  those  old  sins  comes  darkly 
across  the  spirit,  how  is  the  believer  tried  sometimes, 
"  pressed  out  of  measure,  above  strength,"  ready  even  to 
"  despair  of  life  "  !  I  have  spoken  of  unbelief  and  faith 
at  work  side  by  side,  not  only  in  the  same  breast,  but  in 
the  same  devotional  exercise.  How  often  do  we  find  it 
thus  in  the  Psalms !  In  one  part  of  a  psalm,  deepest 
despondency  ;  straightway  faith  emerging,  reviving,  con- 
quering. As,  for  example,  "  AVill  the  Lord  cast  off  for 
ever  ?  and  will  he  be  favourable  no  more  ?  Is  his  mercy 
clean  gone  for  ever?  doth  his  promise  fail  for  ever- 
more ? — And  I  said,  This  is  my  infirmity ;  but  I  will 
remember  the  years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High." 
Or,  again,  "  Behold  these  are  the  ungodly,  who  prosper 
in  the  world ;  they  increase  in  riches.  Yerily,  I  have 
cleaned  my  heart  in  vain,  and  washed  my  hands  in  inno- 
cency."     Nay,  nay,  not  "verily" — falsely,  as  thou  shalt 


FEAR  AND  FAITH.  20  1 

thyself  acknowledge — '*  So  foolisli  was  I,  and  ignorant; 
I  was  as  a  beast  before  thee.  Nevertheless,  I  am  con- 
tinually with  thee ;  thou  hast  holden  me  by  my  right 
hand.  Thou  shalt  guide  me  with  thy  counsel,  and  after- 
ward receive  me  to  glory."  One  other  example — "  IIow 
long  wilt  tliou  forget  mo,  0  Lord  ?  for  ever  V  how  long 
wilt  thou  hide  thy  face  from  me  ?  How  long  sliall  I  take 
counsel  in  ni}'  soul,  having  sorrow  in  my  lieart  daily  ? 
]iow  long  shall  mine  enemy  be  exalted  over  me  ?  "  But 
the  short  jisalm  (thirteenth)  thus  ends,  *'  I  have  trusted 
in  thy  mercy  ;  my  heart  shall  rejoice  in  tliy  salvation.  I 
will  sing  unto  the  Lord,  because  ho  liath  dealt  bountifully 
with  me." 

2.  And  so,  secondly,  I  observe,  on  Jacob's  faith  here, 
that,  if  it  is  faith  in  conflict, — in  a  struggle  with  un- 
belief,— it  is  faith  prevailing,  victorious,  in  tlie  conflict,  "  I 
fear  liim  :  and  thou  saidst^  I  pray  you  to  note  that 
that  is  Jacob's  closing  word — he  ends  here.  He  plants 
]iis  foot  on  this  rock  of  the  promise,  and  here  will  abide, 
"Thou  saidst."  Thus  does  he  prevail  at  once  over  an 
oppressive  sense  of  guilt,  unworthiness,  within,  and  an 
overwhelming  fear,  at  least,  of  danger  from  without. 
He  thus  prevails  over  a  crushing  sense  of  unworthiness 
within.  lie  can,  indeed,  make  no  answer  at  all  to  God 
for  those  old  sins.  But  he  will  lie  down  as  it  were 
upon  his  face,  and  make  confession  of  them  before 
him,  saying,  "I  am  not  worthy  of  the  least  of  all  the 
mercies,  and  of  all  the  truth,  which  thou  hast  shewed 
unto  thy  servant:"  but  "  thou  saidst ^  And  thus  also 
does  he  prevail  against  the  overwhelming  dread  of  danger 
from  without,  •'  Tliou  saidst,"  Lord,  who  liast  the  lieart 
of  Esati  in  thy  liand,  and  canst  turn  it  whithersoever 
thou  wilt, — thou  wlio  art  faitliful  to  tliy  promise,  and  loilt 
turn  it!  I  have  said  the  overichchning  fear,  because  Jacob 
is  not  yet  raised  wlioUy  above  his  fear  of  Esau — "  I  fear 
him,"  says  he.     But  he  lias  cast  anchor,  at  least,  within 


262  FEAR  AND  FAITH. 

the  veil,  "  Thou  saidst,"  and  will  '*  wait  for  the  Lord 
more  than  they  that  watch  for  the  morning." 

3.  But,  thirdly,  I  observe  in  Jacob's  faith,  that  it  is 
faith  in  the  midst  of  difficulties  tahing  simple  hold  of  God  in 
his  xoord  of  promise.  *'I  fear  him,  lest  he  will  come  and 
smite  me,  and  the  mother  with  the  children.  And  thou 
saidst,  I  will  surely  do  thee  good,  and  make  thy  seed  as 
the  sand  of  the  sea,  which  cannot  be  numbered  for 
multitude."  "  lliou  saidst J^  1  suppose  that  nothing  was 
further  from  Jacob's  thoughts  at  this  time  than  writing 
lessons  for  posterity.  And  yet  was  he,  all  unknown  to 
himself,  in  fact  preparing  lessons,  at  this  hour,  quite 
invaluable  for  the  Church  in  every  age.  Long  I  have 
regarded  this  word  of  his,  "  Thou  saidst,"  as  a  gem  of 
the  Old  Testament.  Ah !  what  difficulties  might  not  be 
removed  out  of  the  way  of  the  tried  and  tempted  believer 
by  the  simple  utterance  of  this  word  before  the  Lord  in 
time  of  need,  *'Thou  saidst"?  0  Lord,  thy  providence 
seems  to  frown,  and  all  is  dark  around  me.  But  thou 
saidst,  "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners, 
of  whom  I  am  chief."  My  heart  is  very  hard.  But  tho^i 
saidst,  "I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart,  and  give  you  an 
heart  of  flesh."  Iniquities  prevail.  But  thou  saidst,  ^^  To 
Him  give  all  the  prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name 
whosoever  believeth  in  him  shall  receive  remission  of 
sins."  I  cannot  solve  this  difficulty  and  that.  But  thou 
saidst—  thus  and  thus.  Yea,  thou  seemest  to  saj,  ''  Trouble 
me  not;  the  door  is  now  shut" — "Let  me  go."  Nay, 
Lord,  I  cannot  —  thou  saidst  —  "I  will  not  let  thee  go 
except  thou  bless  me." 

0  yes,  this  closing  word  of  the  prayer,  "  Thou  saidst," 
was  the  secret  and  the  soul,  I  have  no  doubt,  of  the 
whole  after  triumph  at  Peniel.  '^  Zet  me  go,''  said  the 
Lord.  Of  course  it  was  not  that  a  Avorm  could  detain  him, 
but  that  he  was  held  by  his  own  promise,  of  which  the 
"  worm  Jacob  "  refused  to  let  go  his  hold — "  Thou  saidst." 


FEAR  AND  FAITn.  263 

Ah,  this  Tvas  tliat  which  was  wanting  with  INFartha  whon 
she  said,  "Lord,  by  this  time  he  stinketh  ;  for  lie  hath 
been  in  the  grave  four  days — Jesus  saith  unto  lior,  Said  I 
not  unto  thee,  that,  if  thou  wouhlst  believe,  thou  shouldst 
see  the  glor}'  of  God?"  This  was  the  ground  which 
David  took,  when  addressing  himself  to  an  arduous 
enterprise,  ''God  hath  spoken  in  his  holiness;  I  will 
rejoice  :  I  will  divide  Shechem,  and  mete  out  the  \alley 
of  Succoth."  "Thou  saidst,  I  M'ill  surely  do  thee  good, 
and  make  thy  seed  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  which  cannot 
be  numbered  for  multitude."  It  was  the  old  Bethel 
promise  of  twenty  j^ears  before.  But  how  new  and  fresh 
it  was  to  Jacob  that  day!  How  entirely  new  did  fresh 
need,  and  jirofound  sense  of  need,  make  it ! 

Only,  I  think  I  hear  some  desponding  believer  say, 
Happy  Jacob,  who  had  the  promise  addressed  to  himself 
by  name,  "  I  will  surel}'-  do  thee  good  "  !  But  is  tJii/  name 
not  as  good  as  written  there,  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye 
that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest  "  ?  Is  it  not  written  there,  "  AVhosoever  will,  let  him 
take  the  water  of  life  freel}'"?  Na}^,  canst  even  thou 
deny,  sorrowing  one,  that  in  another  manner,  even  by 
the  Holy  Ghost  bearing  witness  by  and  with  the  word 
in  thy  heart,  the  Lord  hath  said,  "I  will  surely  do 
thee  good — I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee — 
The  mountains  shall  depart,  and  the  hills  be  removed; 
but  my  kindness  shall  not  depart  from  thee,  neither 
shall  the  covenant  of  my  peace  be  removed,  saith  the 
Lord,  that  hath  mercy  on  thee"?  Do  not  wait,  I  pray 
you,  till  difhculties  are  all  out  of  the  way.  You  may 
wait  thus  too  long,  too  long!  Tiecollect  the  men  that 
imcovered  the  roof  of  old,  and  let  down  the  sick  of 
the  palsy  in  his  couch  before  Jesus.  In  the  midst  of 
difficulties,  believe,  trust,  saying,  "Lord,  how  are  they 
increased  that  trouble  me !  many  are  they  that  rise  up 
against  me.     Many  there  be  which  say  of  my  soul,  There 


264  FEAR  AND  PAIIH. 

is  no  help  for  him  in  God.  But  thou,  0  Lord,  art  a  shield 
for  me ;  my  glory,  and  the  lifter  up  of  my  head  " — "  lliou 
saidsty 

4.  Once  more,  I  observe  that  this  is  faith  exercised  in  im- 
mediate converse  and  fellowship  with  God  in  prayer.  Brethren, 
prayer  and  faith  are  entirely  distinct ;  3'et  they  are  most 
intimately  connected  together.  For,  as  there  is  no  true 
prayer  without  some  measure  of  faith,  so  faith  is  never 
better  exercised  than  in  prayer.  It  is  a  poor  sign  of 
faith,  if  it  Trill  not  bear  to  be  confronted  with  God, — 
brought  face  to  face  with  Him, — exercised  in  immediate 
converse  with  Him.  At  your  leisure  take  any  of  the  more 
notable  recorded  examples  of  faith.  Is  it  Jehoshaphat  ? 
Hear  him  speaking  to  God,  *'  0  our  God,  wilt  thou  not 
judge  them?  for  we  have  no  might  against  this  great 
company  that  cometh  against  us  ;  neitlier  know  we 
what  to  do  :  but  our  eyes  are  upon  thee."  Is  it  Asa  ? 
"Asa  cried  unto  the  Lord  his  God,  and  said,  Lord,  it  is 
nothing  with  thee  to  help,  whether  with  many,  or  with 
them  that  have  no  power :  help  us  0  Lord  our  God ;  for 
AVe  rest  on  thee,  and  in  thy  name  we  go  against  this 
multitude.  0  Lord  thou  art  our  God  ;  let  not  man 
prevail  against  Thee."  Is  it  the  dying  penitent  thief? 
"Lord,  remember  me  when  thou  comest  into  thy  king- 
dom." Is  it  David?  "If  thou.  Lord,  shouldest  mark 
iniquities,  0  Lord,  who  shall  stand  ?  But  there  is  for- 
giveness with  tliee,  that  thou  mayest  be  feared."  Jacob 
takes  hold  of  the  promise  in  immediate  converse  witli 
God,  "  0  God  of  my  father  Abraham,  and  God  of  my 
father  Isaac  .  .  .  thou  saidst,  I  will  surely  do  thee  good, 
and  make  thy  seed  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  which  cannot 
be  numbered  for  multitude." 

Let  me  affectionately  ask,  in  conclusion,  if  you  have 
known  aught  of  this  conflict  between  faith  and  fear, 
— anything  of  carrying  your  fears  and  difiiculties  to  the 
Lord,  and  being  shut  up  by  them  to  Him  ?     For  if  you 


FEAR  AND  !•  AITH.  265 

are  strangers  to  everything  of  tliis  kind,  I  tliink  you  must 
be  strangers  to  God's  salvation,  and  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins.  Possibly  3'ou  congratulate  yourselves  on  having 
no  conflicts — struggles.  But  your  peace,  be  assured,  is 
the  peace  of  death  and  the  grave.  Oh  flee,  flee,  from 
the  wratli  to  come !  I  am  very  sure  the  Lord  bids  you 
heartily  welcome,  at  this  hour,  to  "  flee  for  refuge  to  lay 
hold  on  the  hope  set  before  j'ou,"  saying,  "Take  witli 
you  words,  and  turn  to  the  Lord  :  say  unto  him,  Take 
away  all  iniquity,  and  receive  us  graciously" — "  Create  in 
me  a  clean  heart,  0  God ;  and  renew  a  right  spirit  Avithin 
me."  "  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say.  Come.  And  let 
him  that  heareth  say.  Come.  And  let  liim  tliat  is  athirst 
come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely." 

How  interesting,  let  me  just  add,  to  tliink  of  Jacob  as 
the  chosen  typo  of  the  ransomed  Church, — the  type  of  the 
*'  Israel  of  God"  !  I  doubt  not  that  he  was  chosen  to  be 
such  partly  in  resjiect  of  the  very  imperfections  of  his 
character.  For,  the  Church  below  is  not  that  "  glorious," 
sinless.  Church,  written  of  in  the  fifth  of  Ephesians,  but 
the  Church  of  the  seventh  of  Homans,  "  The  good  that  I 
Avould,  I  do  not ;  but  the  evil  which  I  would  not,  that  I 
do.  1  find  a  law,  that,  when  I  would  do  good,  evil  is 
present  with  me."  Only  remember  how  Jacob,  amid  his 
imperfections,  conflicts  and  struggles  with  them,  clings 
to  the  Lord,  lives  by  faith,  comes  up  from  the  wilderness 
leaning  on  the  Beloved.  **Thou  saidst,"  is  his  very  life 
— "My  soul  followotli  hard  after  thee  ;  thy  right  hand 
upholdeth  me."  I  think  that  the  two  words  on  which 
we  have  meditated  miglit  be  written  as  the  motto  of 
vast  numbers,  at  least,  of  the  children  of  God,  "  I  fear 
him  ;  and,  thou  saidst."  Strive,  I  beseech  3'ou,  against 
unbelieving  fears — long  and  pray  to  be  delivered  from 
them.  But  when  they  still  (iling  to  yoii,  and  oppress 
you,  tell  them  freely  out  to  the  Lord.     And  be  driven 


266  FEAR  AND  FAITH. 

at  least,  if  not  sweetly  drawn,  by  tliem  to  Him,  saying, 
"  Thou  saidst'''' — "  Hem  ember  the  word  unto  thy  servant, 
upon  which  thou  hast  caused  me  to  hope" — "I  will 
not  let  thee  go  except  thou  bless  me  " — "  Out  of  the 
depths  have  I  cried  unto  thee,  0  Lord.  Lord,  hear  my 
voice ;  let  thine  ears  be  attentive  to  the  voice  of  my  sup- 
plications. If  thou,  Lord,  shouldest  mark  iniquities,  0 
Lord,  who  shall  stand  ?  But  there  is  forgiveness  with  thee, 
that  thou  mayest  be  feared.  I  wait  for  the  Lord,  mj  soul 
doth  wait,  and  in  his  word  do  I  hope.  My  soul  waiteth  for 
the  Lord  more  than  they  that  watch  for  the  morning ;  I 
say,  more  than  they  that  watch  for  the  morning.  Let 
Israel  hope  in  the  Lord  :  for  with  the  Lord  there  is 
mercy,  and  with  him  is  plenteous  redemption.  And  he 
shall  redeem  Israel  from  all  his  iniquities." 


XIX. 

THE  NATURAL  HEAllT  UNVEILED  IN  TPIE  GKEAT 
ACCOUNT. 

"And  another  came,  saying.  Lord,  behold,  here  in 
thy  pound,  which  I  hai'e  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin:  for 
I  feared  thee,  because  thou  art  an  austere  man  ;  thou 
takcst  uj)  that  thou  layedst  not  doivn,  and  reapest  that 
thou  didst  not  soio." — Luke  xix.  20-21. 

Text — "For  I  fvared  thee,  because  thou  art  an 
austere  man.''''  * 

I  iiAYE  many  a  time  tlioiiglit  of  2^i'en,cliiiig  a  sermon — 
taking  for  the  text  of  it  some  such  words  as  we  sang  just 
now  from  the  hundred  and  thirty-ninth  psalm,  "  Thou 
understandest  my  thought  afar  off"  —  having  for  its 
object  to  bring  out  this  principle,  or  general  fact,  of 
the  Scriptures,  that  God  is  accustomed  in  tliom  to  put 
words  into  the  lips  of  men,  which  they  would  never 
dream  of  speaking  out,  but  which  lie  knows  to  be,  and 
because  he  knows  them  to  be,  tlie  true  index  of  their 
character,  and  the  expression  of  their  inmost  thoughts 
and  feelings,  if  only  they  ventured  to  tell  them  to  them- 
selves and  others.  So  it  is,  beyond  doubt,  with  these 
words,  wliich  our  blessed  Lord  puts  into  tlie  lii)S  of  tliis 
man  of  liis  parable,  who  has  come,  as  it  were  last  of  all, 
to  give  in  his  account  in  the  judgment  of  the  great  day, 

*  The  veil  of  the  allegory  in  this  parable  is  so  thin  and  slight, 
that  I  have  ventured,  in  this  discourse,  to  draw  it  very  much 
aside,  and  to  present  the  solemn  spiritual  realities  all  hut  nakedly 
and  alone. 


1:68  THE  NATUKAL  HEART  UNVEILED 

'*  Thou  art  an  austere  man — I  feared  thee,  because  thou 
art  an  austere  man."  Of  course  it  is  not  that  such  words 
will  be  spoken  by  any  man  at  the  judgment  seat.  Nor 
yet  is  it,  that  even  in  the  present  world  any  man  ven- 
tures, in  so  many  words,  to  speak  thus  to  God.  But  it 
is,  that  myriads  upon  myriads  of  men, — even  all  the  multi- 
tudes whom  our  Lord  represents  in  the  person  of  this  man, 
— on  supposition  of  their  being  made  to  disclose,  in  the 
judgment,  their  most  secret  thoughts,  with  the  motives 
that  all  along  actuated  their  life  in  this  world,  would 
give  expression  to  them  in  some  such  appalling  words  as 
these — Lord,  I  knew  thee  to  be  a  hard  master,  whom  it 
was  very  difhcult  to  please  ;  and  so,  dreading  thee,  I 
thought  it  best  and  safest  to  keep  as  much  as  possible 
out  of  thy  way,  and  avoid  simply,  as  I  hope  I  have 
avoided,  giving  thee  any  serious  ground  of  offence  with 
me,  "Lord,  behold,  here  is  thy  pound,  which  I  have 
kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin  :  for  I  feared  thee,  because  thou 
art  an  austere  man  ;  thou  takest  up  that  thou  layedst  not 
down,  and  reapest  that  thou  didst  not  sow  "  !  "I  feared 
thee,  bacause  thou  art  an  austere  man." 

I  am  the  more  anxious  to  look  at  these  words  somewhat 
carefully  witli  you,  because  they  may  be  found  to  have  a 
great  deal  more  to  do  with  not  a  few  of  us — and  we  with 
them — than  might  at  first  view  seem  probable.  Certain  it 
is  that  our  Lord  does  not  describe  here  any  rare,  abnormal, 
exceptional,  case.  I  have  spoken  of  myriads  upon  myriads 
of  men.  For,  observe  that  in  the  two  servants  who 
liad  before  given  in  their  account,  —  given  it  in  with 
humble  joy, — he  had  represented  all  the  righteous — all 
God's  forgiven  and  regenerated  "children  by  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus."  Now,  in  this  last  servant — alas  !  servant 
without  service— he  represents  all  besides.  And  if  you 
ask  how  this  can  be,  while  the  language  is  so  peculiar,  I 
answer  that  the  very  peculiarity  of  it  was  doubtless 
intended  to  make  the  description,  as  by  a  kind  of  d,  fortiori 


IN  THE  GREAT  ACCOUNT.  209 

argument,  tlio  more  -widely  compreliensivo, — intended  to 
prevent  any  man's  making  his  escape  from  tlio  searching 
application  of  it,  by  saying,  AVeil,  I  am  at  least  no 
profligate,  no  thief,  drunkard,  adulterer,  murderer  !  For, 
neither  -was  this  man  any  such  sinner — "  Lord,  behold, 
liere  is  thy  pound."  If  this  man  had  done  no  good, 
neither  had  he  done  any  flagrant  harm.  "  Behold,  here 
is  thy  pound,  -which  I  hnvo  kept " — he  had  not  squandered 
it;  ho  had  not  "wasted  his  substance  with  riotous  living," 
— "  Here  is  thy  pound,  Avhich  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  a 
napkin."  Nay,  he  was  not  without  a  kind  of  religion  of 
his  own — "  Ifearcdtliee,^^  says  he.  In  short,  it  is  here  just 
as  in  that  profoundly  solemn  account  of  the  judgment  in 
the  twenty-fifth  of  Matthew,  where  our  Lord,  of  evident 
purpose,  does  not  expressly  deal  with  the  case  of  licentious, 
profligate  men,  but  'pronounces  the  doom  of  the  ever- 
lasting death  on  the  simple  want,  or  absence,  of  all  loving, 
active,  service  rendered  to  Him,  saying,  "  Tor  I  was  an 
liungered,  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat;  I  was  thirsty,  and 
yo  gave  me  no  drink  ;  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me 
not  in;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not;  sick,  and  in  prison, 
and  ye  visited  mo  not."  So  here  does  he  include,  by  only 
stronger  reason,  the  licentious  and  the  profligate,  while 
he  describes  the  man  on  whom  he  is  about  to  pronounce 
the  like  doom,  thus,  "Another  came,  saying.  Lord,  behold, 
here  is  thy  pound,  which  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin  : 
for  I  feared  thee,  because  thou  art  an  austere  man ;  thou 
takest  up  that  thou  layedst  not  down,  and  reapest  that 
thou  didst  not  sow."  "  For  Z  feared  thee,  because  tliou  art 
an  austere  many  I  have  singled  out  these  central  words, 
because  they  will  be  found  to  contain,  in  brief,  the  entire 
inward  character  of  the  natural  man, — the  whole  character 
of  the  ungodly,  natural  heart — out  of  which  unavoidably 
comes  the  ungodly  life,  though  in  endlessly  difi'eront  shapes 
and  forms.  Three  distinct  features  will  bo  found  to  make 
it  up — distinct,  yet  inseparably  connected  together. 


270  THE  NATURAL  HEART  UNVEILED 

I.  First,  lying  at  tlie  bottom  of  all  here,  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  natural  mind,  there  comes  out  "  the  evil 
heart  of  unbelief," — a  fatal  misjudgment  of  the  adorable 
God, — an  entire  heart-ignorance  of  God,  estrangement 
from  God,  believing  of  the  devil's  lie  concerning  God, 
in  place  of  God's  blessed  revelation  concerning  Him- 
self— "  Thou  art  an  austere  man,"  a  hard  master,  very 
difficult  to  please,  ' '  taking  up  that  thou  layedst  not 
down,  and  reaping  tha,t  thou  didst  not  sow,"  demand- 
ing— if,  indeed,  thou  dost  seriously  demand  anything  of 
us — demanding  things  impossible  for  us  frail  creatures  ! 
You  observe,  and  you  may  j)Ossibly  wonder,  that  I  have 
thrown  in  those  parenthetical  words,  "if,  indeed,  thou 
dost  seriously  demand  anything  of  us."  But  the  truth  is, 
that  these  extremes  strangely  and  fearfully  meet  in  the 
natural  heart — the  extreme  of  a  secret  sceptical  contempt 
of  God,  with  the  extreme  of  a  dark,  servile  dread  of  God, 
— that  word,  ''  Thou  thoughtest  that  I  was  altogether  such 
an  one  as  thyself,"  with  this  one,  "I  feared  thee,  because 
thou  art  an  austere  man,"  a  hard  master !  Still,  still, 
the  natural  conscience  will  bear  stern  witness  to  the  reality 
of  a  divine  judgment  and  law.  And  so,  as  often  as  the 
fallen  heart  is  forced  into  near  contact  with  God,  this  is 
its  language— scarce  uttered  consciously  even  to  itself, 
and  much  less  uttered  audibly  to  others — "  Thou  art  an 
austere  man,"  a  hard  master,  demanding  things  unreason- 
able, impossible  for  us  weak  creatures  ! 

Need  I  say  that  it  is  a  lie  of  the  devil,  a  foul  calumny 
on  the  blessed  God?  A  hard  master?  Oh,  "God  is 
love."  "  There  is  none  good  but  one,  that  is  God." 
A  hard  master  ?  "  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children, 
so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him ;  for  he  knoweth 
our  frame,  he  remembereth  that  we  are  dust."  A  hard 
master?  "  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  I  have  no  pleasure 
in  the  death  of  the  wicked."  "  0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem, 
thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest  them  which  are 


IX  THE  GREAT  ACCOUNT.  271 

sent  unto  tlicc,  how  oi'teii  \voiikl  I  liavo  gathered  thy 
children  togetlier,  even  as  a  lien  gathereth  her  cliiekeus 
under  her  wings,  and  yo  would  not"  !  A  hard  master? 
*'  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee  ;  for  my  strength  is  made 
perfect  in  weakness."  "  If  there  be  first  a  willing  mind,  it 
is  accepted  according  to  that  a  man  hath,  and  not  accord- 
ing to  that  he  hath  not."  A  hard  master?  "God  so 
loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  tliat 
whosoever  belioveth  in  him  should  not  pe^-ish,  but  have 
everlasting  life."  lUit,  "  if  our  gospel  be  hid,"  as  Paul 
writes,  "it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost ;  in  whom  the  god  of 
this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  them  which  believe 
not,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel  of  Christ,  who  is 
the  image  of  God,  should  shine  unto  them."  "  The 
natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God;  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him."  "An  austere 
man," — a  hard  master ! 

It  is  solemnly  interesting  to  note,  that  this  was  the 
very  lie  with  which  Satan  wrecked  the  fortunes  of  our 
race  in  paradise,  saying  to  the  woman,  "  A"ea,  hath  God 
said,  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  every  tree  of  the  garden?" 
— an  extraordinary  restriction  ! — very  capricious,  arbi- 
trary !  Was  it  so  in  truth?  "The  Lord  God  com- 
manded the  man,  saying,  Of  every  tree  of  the  garden  thou 
mayest  freely  eat" — literally,  "eating  thou  shalt  eat," 
shalt,  mayest,  freely  and  abundantly  eat" — "but  of  the 
tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  thou  shalt  not  eat 
of  it :  for  in  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt 
surely  die."  Assuredly  it  was  nothing  strange  that  the 
glorious  God,  in  the  act  of  giving  to  our  first  parents  more 
than  leave  to  expatiate,  and  regale  themselves,  over  the 
whole  extent  of  that  garden,  should,  without  giving  his 
reasons  to  them,  restrict  their  liberty  in  a  single  instance, 
— and  all  the  less  strange,  that  in  the  midst  of  tlie  garden 
he  had  planted  another  tree,  "  the  tree  of  life,"  in  whose 
fruit,  as  often  as  they  partook  of  it,  he  gave  to  them  a  kind 


272  THE  XATUUAL  HEART  UNVEILED 

of  sacramental  pledge  tliat  tliey  should  be  raised,  by  and 
by,  with  their  posterity,  to  a  higher,  immutable,  ever- 
lasting life,  on  condition  of  their  loyal  obedience  to 
his  commandment.  But,  that  "liar  and  murderer  from 
the  beginning,"  said  unto  the  woman,  "Yea,  hath  God 
said.  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  every  tree  of  the  garden  ?  And 
the  woman  said  unto  the  serpent" — the  lie,  alas!  having 
already  found  lodgment  in  her  heart,  since  she  not  only 
recoiled  not  from  the  tempter,  entering  into  communica- 
tion with  him,  but  ventured  to  change  the  terms  of  both 
the  liberty  and  the  restriction — "  AVe  may  eat  of  the  fruit 
of  the  trees  of  the  garden  :  but  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree 
which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  God  hath  said.  Ye 
shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither  shall  ye  touch  it,  lest  jg  die  " — 
possibly  we  may  not !  "And  the  serpent  said  unto  the 
woman,"  following  up  his  advantage  at  once,  "  Ye  shall 
not  surely  die  :  for  God  doth  know  that  in  the  day  ye 
eat  thereof,  then  your  ej^es  shall  be  opened ;  and  ye  shall 
be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and  evil.  And  when  the 
woman  saw  that  the  tree  was  good  for  food,  and  that  it 
was  pleasant  to  the  ej^es,  and  a  tree  to  be  desired  to  make 
one  wise,  she  took  of  the  fruit  thereof,  and  did  eat ;  and 
gave  also  unto  her  husband  with  her,  and  he  did  eat"  ! 
AVell,  I  have  said  that,  lying  at  the  bottom  of  all  here, 
in  the  character  of  the  natural  mind,  unveiled  in  the 
day  of  final  account,  there  comes  out  the  "evil  heart  of 
unbelief,"  a  fatal  misjudgment  of  the  adorable  God,  an 
entire  heart-ignorance  of  God,  estrangement  from  God, 
believing  of  the  devil's  lie  concerning  God,  in  place 
of  God's  blessed  revelation  concerning  Himself — "  Thou 
art  an  austere  man,"  a  hard  master ! 

II.  Second,  and  inseparably  connected  with  this  first 
feature  in  the  character,  see  a  second, — a  dark,  jealous 
dread  of  such  a  God,  prompting  the  wish  to  be  away  from 
him — "  I  feared  thee,  because  thou  art  an  austere  man,"  a 


IN  THE  GItEAT  ACCOUNT.  273 

liard  master  !  Tlio  fear  is  oLviously  that  of  dark  distrust, 
jealousy,  suspicion.  It  is  the  opposite  of  confidence, 
aliectiou,  love.  How,  in  fact,  can  such  a  God  bo  loved  ? 
Ask  the  Israelites  if  they  love  tlio  tyrant  tliat  demands 
the  tale  of  bricks  of  them,  without  giving-  them  the  straw 
wherewith  to  furnish  it — "  I  feared  thee,  because  thou 
art  an  austere  man  ;  thou  takest  up  that  thou  laycdst  not 
down,  and  reapest  tliat  thou  didst  not  sow."  It  is  the 
fear  that  "hath  torment."  There  is  a  fear  of  holy 
reverence,  begotten  of  faith, — springing  out  of  profound 
regard  for  the  blessed  God,  and,  in  turn,  deepening  the 
regard  from  which  it  springs.  But  this  is  the  fear  of 
a  slave  beneath  the  master's  lash,  prompting,  as  I  have 
said,  the  desire  to  be  away  from  him. 

Behold  the  earliest  manifestation  of  it  in  our  first 
parents,  immediately  on  their  committing  the  fatal  sin. 
It  is  written,  *' And  the  eyes  of  them  both  were  opened, 
and  they  knew  that  they  were  naked  .  .  .  And  Adam 
and  his  wife  hid  themselves  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord  God  amongst  the  trees  of  the  garden.  And  the 
Lord  God  called  imto  Adam,  and  said  unto  him,  AVhere 
art  thou  ?  And  he  said,  I  heard  thy  voice  in  the  garden, 
and  I  was  afraid,  because  I  was  naked;  and  I  hid 
myself."  Ah,  it  was  well  for  them  that  God  had  come 
after  them,  calling  to  Adam,  "  Where  art  thou  ? " 
There  is  reason  to  think  that  both  soon  exchanged 
the  fear  of  dark  and  jealous  dread  for  a  far  different 
kind  of  fear, — exchanged  the  faith  of  the  devil's  lie  con- 
cerning God,  for  the  faith  of  his  blessed  revelation 
concerning  Ilimself,  in  the  promise  of  the  covenant,  that 
the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  the  head  of  the 
serpent !  But  behold  the  natural  heart  in  every  age, 
left  to  its  own  workings — "I  hid  myself"!  Oh,  listen 
to  its  unuttered  language,  ''Depart  from  us,  for  we 
desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways" — 0  God,  if  we 
can  get  but  thy  benefits,  let  us  have  as  little  to  do  with 


274  THE  Jv^ATUEAL  HEART  UNVEILED 

thyself  as  possible— the  ''evil  heart  of  unbelief,  in  de- 
parting from  the  living  God  " !  "I  feared  thee,  because 
thou  art  an  austere  man."  It  is  the  fear  of  those  words 
towards  the  close  of  the  Apocalj^pse,  "  But  the  fearful,  and 
unhelieving,  and  abominable," — the  fear  that  springs  of 
unbelief — of  dark,  jealous  distrust  of  God—"  I  feared 
thee,  because  thou  art  an  austere  man  "  ! 

III.  And  now,  connected  inseparably  with  these  two 
features  of  character,  even  as  the  second  with  the  first, 
see  the  third  feature  in  the  character — completing  it — 
even  an  utter  indisposition  for  all  cheerful,  active  service 
of  God,  ^^  For  I  feared  thee — Lord,  behold,  here  is  thy 
pound,  which  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin;  for  I 
feared  .thee,  because  thou  art  an  austere  man."  Impos- 
sible to  serve  such  a  God — impossible,  first,  to  love 
him ;  and  next  impossible  to  serve  a  God  unloved.  Oh, 
love  is  the  spring  of  service  ;  distrust,  jealousy,  suspicion, 
are  the  death  of  it — "Lord,  behold,  here  is  thy  pound, 
which  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin;  for  I  feared 
thee,  because  thou  art  an  austere  man." 

But  this  man  thinks  he  has  served  God  tolerably  well, 
"Lord,  behold,  here  is  thy  pound"!  In  the  exceed- 
ing deceitfulness  of  the  natural  heart,  does  he  contrive 
to  persuade  himself  that  he  has  given  God  no  serious 
cause  of  ofi'ence  with  him,  "Behold,  here  is  thy  pound, 
which  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin."  It  is  the  more 
strange  he  should  be  able  so  to  persuade  himself,  inas- 
much as  in  his  own  word,  "  thy  pound,"  he  confesses 
that  it  was  the  property  of  another, — of  a  Master  who 
had  lent  it  to  him  for  a  purpose,  which,  assui-edly,  was 
not  that  of  keeping  it  laid  uselessly  up.  Would  you 
see,  brethren,  what  the  purpose  was  ?  You  have  it  in  the 
thirteenth  verse,  "And  he  called  his  ten  servants,  and 
delivered  them  ten  pounds,  and  said  unto  them,  "  Occupy 
till  I  come  " — "  occupy,"  that  is,  trafiic  diligently,  trade, 


IN  THE  GllEAT  ACCOUNT.  275 

"  till  I  come."  Oh,  what  is  thus  tlio  whole  Chri.stiim  lifo 
but  a  busy  commerce, — a  trading  for  God,  for  the  good  of 
all  around  us,  for  eternity  ?  To  this  end  has  the  Master 
lent  us  our  time,  mental  powers,  reputation,  influence, 
property,  with  all  spiritual  privileges,  saying,  "  Occupy  till 
I  come."  But  this  man— along  with  all  the  myriads  whom 
he  represents! — has  contrived  to  forget  all  that,  and  to 
persuade  himself  that  God  has  forgotten  it,  too,  ''  Lord," 
says  he,  ''  behold,  here  is  thy  pound  "  !  What  is  it  but 
that  insolent  conteaipt  of  God  of  which  I  spoke  near  the 
outset,  as  meeting  in  the  natural  lieart  with  the  dark, 
jealous  dread  of  him,  '' TJnj  i^ound  "— "  lo,  there  thou 
hast  tliat  is  thine  /"  In  reality,  the  man's  whole  life  had 
been  a  continued  disobedience  to  the  Master,  rebellion 
against  the  Sovereign,  robbery  of  the  great  Owner  and 
Proprietor.  Yet  says  he,  "Lord,  behold,  here  is  thy 
pound,  which  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin"!  The 
last  word  is  worthy  to  be  noted.  It  means  literally  a 
sweat  cloth — such  wherewith  some  earnest  labourer  might 
wipe  the  sweat  from  his  brow.  But  this  man,  having  no 
occasion  for  any  such  cloth  in  toiling  for  this  Master  at 
least,  has  taken  it  to  wrap  the  Master's  pound  in  !  Oh, 
beloved,  in  the  day  when  God  "  will  bring  to  light  the 
hidden  things  of  darkness,  and  make  manifest  the 
counsels  of  the  hearts,"  how  will  it  come  terribly  out 
that  to  have  done  no  good  in  this  world,  was  to  have 
done  frightful  evil;  that  to  have  been  useless,  was  to 
have  been  mischievous  ;  that  not  to  have  served  God,  was 
to  have  served  the  devil ;  that  not  to  have  "  gathered  with 
Christ  "  in  his  kingdom,  was  to  have  *'  scattered  abroad  " ; 
that  not  to  have  been  the  loyal,  loving  servant  of  Christ, 
was  to  have  been  his  enemy,  and  at  war  with  him  ! 

And,  accordingly,  glance  a  moment  at  the  solemn 
rejDly  of  the  King — "And  he  saith  unto  him,  Out  of  tliine 
own  mouth  will  I  judge  tliee,  thou  wicked  servant." 
Ah,  the  disguise  is  removed — "Thou  wichd  servant" — 


276  THE  Ts'ATUEAL  HEART  XJX VEILED 

"the  fearful,  and  unbelieving-,  and  ahominahle/^^  And 
then,  the  King  will  not  descend  to  dispute  his  character 
with  the  man — "Out  of  thine  own  mouth  will  I  judge 
thee.  Thou  hnewest  " — didst  thou? — "that  I  was  an 
austere  man,  taking  up  that  I  laid  not  down,  and  reaping 
that  I  did  not  sow  :  wherefore  then  gavest  not  thou  my 
money  into  the  bank" — at  tiie  very  least  and  lowest — 
"that  at  my  coming,  I  might  have  required  mine  own 
with  usury  ?•''  And  he  said  unto  them  that  stood  by, 
Take  from  him  the  pound."  0  terrible  word — all  the 
things  now  taken  away,  out  of  which  might  have  come 
the  hope  of  recovery !  But  that  is  not  all.  Yer.  27, 
"Those  mine  enemies  which  would  not  that  I  should 
reign  over  them,  bring  hither,  and  slay  them  before  me." 
Compare  the  corresponding  words  in  the  parable  of  the 
Talents,  "  Cast  ye  the  wiprofdalU  servant  into  outer  dark- 
ness ;  there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth  " — 
"Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  pre- 
pared for  the  devil  and  his  angels  :  for  I  was  an  hungered, 
and  ye  gave  me  no  meat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me 
no  drink ;  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not  in  ; 
naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not ;  sick,  and  in  prison,  and 
ye  visited  me  not" — "  These  shall  go  away  into  everlasting 
punishment"! 

Fain  I  would  have  you  to  note — although  it  belongs  less 
to  my  main  theme — that,  if  jou  take  the  three  features 
of  character  which  we  have  seen  in  the  text,  and  simply 
reverse  them  one  by  one,  j^ou  shall  have  the  ^rtdiole 
character  of  God's  regenerated  child, — of  the  renewed 
heart, — that  heart  of  which  it  is  written,  "A  new  heart 
will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you ; 
and  I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh, 
and  I  will  give  you  a  heart  of  flesh."     Thus, 

1.  Pirst,  substitute  for  that  word  of  the  apostle,  "The 
god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  them  which 

*  The  word  would  noio  have  been  better  translated  interest. 


IX  THE  GREAT  ACCOUNT.  277 


believe  not,  lest  tlie  lii;lit  of  the  <;-Iorious  gospel  of  Christ, 
who  is  the  image  of  God,  sliould  sliiiie  into  them,"  llio 
one  wliiek  follows  it,  "God,  who  commanded  the  light 
to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath  shined  in  our  hearts,  to 
give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  For  the  mournful  entire 
heart-ignorance  of  God,  substitute  the  blessed  promise 
fulfilled,  "I  will  give  them  a  heart  to  know  me,  that  I  am 
the  Lord."  For  the  "  evil  heart  of  unbelief,"  crediting 
the  devil's  lie  concerning  God,  substitute  that  heaven- 
born  faith,  "We  believe  and  are  sure  tliat  thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God" — "AVe  have  known 
and  believed  the  love  tliat  God  hath  unto  us."  And  you 
have  the  foundation  of  the  whole  character  of  the  new 
creature  in  Christ  Jesus. 

2.  Secondly,  for  that  fear  of  dark  and  jealous  dread 
which  springs  of  unbelief,  substitute  the  love  that  springs 
of  faith,  "AVe  love  him,  because  he  first  loved  us  " — "  My 
beloved  is  mine,  and  I  am  liis  " — and  you  have  the  new 
heart  in  its  very  soid.  No  doubt,  there  remains  a  great 
deal  about  God,  his  character  and  ways,  which  the  believer 
is  unable  to  understand  and  explain.  But  he  is  content 
to  be  unable,  saying,  "Lord,  my  heart  is  not  haughty, 
nor  mine  eyes  lofty ;  neither  do  I  exercise  myself  in  great 
matters,  or  in  things  too  high  for  me."  The  old  fear  has 
given  place  to  a  new  fear,  the  close  companion  of  love, 
"AVho  sliall  not  fear  thee,  0  Lord,  and  glorify  thy  name  ?" 
"It  is  as  high  as  heaven;  what  canst  thou  do  ?  deeper 
than  hell ;  what  canst  thou  know  ?  The  measure  thereof 
is  longer  than  the  earth,  and  broader  than  the  sea." 

3.  And  thus,  thirdly,  for  the  utter  indisposition  to  God's 
cheerful  service,  substitute  that  heart  for  all  service, 
"Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?"  "The  love 
of  Christ  constraineth  us;  because  we  thus  judge,  that 
if  one  died  for  all,  then  all  died ;  and  that  he  died 
for  all,  that  they  which  live  should  not  henceforth  live 


278  THE  NATURAL  HEART  UNVEILED 

unto  themselves,  but  unto  liim  which  died  for  them,  and 
rose  again."  True,  the  Christian's  service,  at  the  best, 
is  full  of  imperfection,  not  only  meriting  no  reward, 
but  needing  forgiveness  every  day  and  hour.  But  here 
is  a  Master,  maligned  by  the  devil  as  ''austere"  and 
"  hard,"  who  delighteth  to  crown  the  poor  services 
of  his  people  with  mansions,  cities,  kingdoms!  "Then 
came  the  first,  sajdng,  Lord,  thy  pound  hath  gained 
ten  pounds.  And  he  said  unto  him,  AVell,  thou  good 
servant :  because  thou  hast  been  faithful  in  a  very  little, 
have  thou  autliority  over  ten  cities.  And  the  second 
came,  saying,  Lord,  thy  pound  hath  gained  five  pounds. 
And  he  said  likewise  to  him.  Be  thou  also  over  five  cities." 
Can  it  be  doubted  that,  had  the  third  servant  come, 
saying.  Lord,  thy  pound  hath  gained  two  pounds,  he  had 
been  met  with  the  like  glad  welcome,  and  with  the  gracious 
reward,  "Be  thou  also  over  two  cities  "? — "Then  shall 
the  King  say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand.  Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world:  for  I  was  an  hungered, 
and  ye  gave  me  meat ;  I  was  thirst}^,  and  ye  gave  me 
drink  ;  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in;  naked,  and 
ye  clothed  me ;  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me ;  I  was  in 
prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me.  Then  shall  the  righteous 
answer  him,  saying.  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungered, 
and  fed  thee  ?  or  thirst}^,  and  gave  thee  drink  ?  When 
saw  we  thee  a  stranger,  and  took  thee  in  ?  or  naked,  and 
clothed  thee?  Or  when  saw  we  thee  sick,  or  in  prison,  and 
came  unto  thee  ?  And  the  King  shall  answer  and  sa}^ 
unto  them,  Yerily  I  say  unto  you,  Inasmuch  as  ye  have 
done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  me  " — "  The  righteous  into  life  eternal "  ! 

A  practical  inference  or  two  before  I  close. 
(1.)  First,  there  is  to  he  a  judgment  day,  brethren.     Do 
you  believe  it  ?     Sure  I  am  of  this,  that  if  there  were 


IX  THE  GREAT  ACCOUNT.  279 

none,  this  whole  world  Mere  but  a  horrihlo  enigma, — a 
world  in  which  any  vile  and  reckless  criminal  should  but 
have,  after  his  crimes,  to  make  away  with  himself  by 
one  of  those  easy  deaths  Avhich  modern  science  tells  us 
of,  and  it  should  be  as  well  with  him  as  with  him  who 
had  diligently  "  served  his  own  generation  by  the  will  of 
God,  and  fiiUen  asleep."  But,  "  we  must  all  appear  before 
the  judgment  seat  of  Christ ;  that  every  one  may  receive 
tlie  things  done  in  his  body,  according  to  that  he  hath 
done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad."  "  He  hath  appointed 
a  day,  in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  rigliteous- 
ness  by  that  man  wliom  he  hath  ordained ;  whereof  he 
hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that  he  hath  raised 
liim  from  the  dead."  *'  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and 
liim  that  sat  on  it,  from  whose  face  the  earth  and  the 
heaven  fled  away ;  and  there  was  found  no  place  for 
them.  And  I  saw  the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before 
God  :  and  the  books  were  opened  ;  and  another  book  was 
opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life  :  and  the  dead  were 
judged  out  of  those  things  which  were  written  in  the 
books,  according  to  their  works."  Oh,  I  am  reminded  of 
old  Herbert's  solemn  lines  :  — 

"  Almighty  Judge  !  how  shall  poor  mortals  brook 
Thy  dreadful  look, 
Able  a  heart  of  iron  to  appal, 

When  thou  shalt  call 
For  every  man's  peculiar  book  ? 

What  others  mean  to  do,  I  know  not  well  ; 

Yet  I  hear  tell, 
That  some  will  turn  thee  to  some  leaves  therein 

So  void  of  sin, 
That  they  in  merit  shall  excel. 

But  I  resolve,  when  thou  shalt  call  for  mine, 

Tliat  to  decline  ; 
And  thrust  a  testament  into  thy  hand. 

Let  that  be  scann'd  ; 
There  thou  shalt  find  my  faults  are  thine." 


280  THE  NATURAL  HEART  UNVEILED 

(2.)  Second,  liow  worthless,  in  that  clay,  will  be  all 
merely  negative  religion — '*  Lord,  behold,  here  is  thy 
pound,  which  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin"  !  And  as 
for  all  attempts  to  occupy  neutral  ground  in  the  kingdom 
of  Christ,  what  dreams  they  are  !  The  man  who  seeks  for 
neutral  groimd  here,  has  already  taken  his  side  with  the 
devil  against  Christ,  '' I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  are 
neither  cold  nor  hot :  I  would  thou  wert  cold  or  hot.  So 
then  because  thou  art  lukewarm,  and  neither  cold  nor 
hot,  I  will  spue  thee  out  of  my  mouth."  "  He  that  is  not 
with  me,  is  against  me ;  and  he  that  gathereth  not  with 
me  scattereth  abroad." 

(3.)  But,  thirdly,  be  it  carefully  noted  that  this,  pro- 
perly speaking,  is  not  yet  the  Judge,  but  the  Prophet, 
telling  beforehand  of  the  Judge,  and  of  the  judgment  to 
come.  Thus  is  there  richest  mercy  even  in  the  most 
terrible  things  we  have  heard  from  his  bps — as  one  has 
said, 

*•'  God's  loudest  tlirentenings  speak  of  love  and  tender  care, 
For  who  that  wished  the  blow  to  light  would  say,  Beware  ?" 

Oh,  are  there  those  before  me  whom  the  god  of  this  world 
still  blinds,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel  of  Christ 
should  shine  unto  them  ?  I  bring  you  good  tidings  this  day 
from  the  mouth  of  Jesu?,  "  I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me" — 
elsewhere  he  says,  "  without  mone^^,  and  without  price" — 
"  gold  tried  in  the  j&re,  that  thou  mayest  be  rich ;  and  white 
raiment,  that  thou  mayest  be  clothed,  and  that  the  shame 
of  thy  nakedness  do  not  appear ;  and  anoint  thine  eyes 
with  eye-salve,  that  thou  mayest  see."  Oh  that  you 
were  made  to  cry  with  Bartimeus,  "  Jesus,  thou  Son  of 
David,  have  mercy  upon  me"! — "Lord,  that  I  might 
receive  my  sight"  !  Soon  should  your  eyes  also  be  opened  ; 
and,  "knowing  God's  name,"  ye  should  "  put  your  trust 
in  him;"  and  trusting,  love  him;  and  loving,  serve 
him ;  and  serving  him,  hear  at  length  the  blessed  voice, 


i:S  THE  G15EAT  ACCOUNT.  281 

"  Well  (lone,  good  and  I'liillil'til  servant ;  thou  hast  boon 
faithful  over  a  few  thing-s,  1  will  make  thee  ruler  over 
many  things  :  enter  thou  into  th(3  joy  of  thy  Lord  !" 

(4.)  Finally,  I  remind  the  children  of  God  of  their 
life-work,  "  Occupy  till  I  come."  The  whole  spiritual 
life,  as  I  said,  Avhat  is  it  but  a  busy  commerce, — trading 
for  God,  and  for  the  highest  welfare  of  ourselves  and 
others?  8ee  how  the  man  of  business  attends  to  his 
secular  calling, — how  his  thoughts  run  ever  on  it ;  how 
he  makes  other  things  bend  to  it  and  its  interests ;  how 
lie  economizes  and  arranges  his  time  with  a  view  to  it ; 
how  he  lies  on  the  watch  for  ways  of  advancing  it ;  how 
he  insists  on  having  definite  security  about  all  its  affairs. 
Thus  do  you  "occupy,"  trade,  in  the  grand  spiritual 
business.  And,  remembering  that  the  spring  of  all 
Christian  service  is  faith  and  love,  long  and  strive  after 
advance  in  both.  "Abide  in  Christ,  that  when  he  shall 
appear,  we  mixy  have  confidence,  and  not  be  ashamed 
before  him  at  his  coming."  "  Be  stedfast,  nnmoveable, 
always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as 
ye  know  that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 


XX. 

THE  COVENANT— ITS  DEATHLESS  LIFE  AND  HOPE. 

"/w  hope  of  eternal  life,  loluch  God,  that  cannot  lie, 
promised  before  the  world  ber/an.'" — Titus  i.  2. 

Waiving  all  i^reface,  I  mean  to  take  these  blessed  words 
in  two  ways — objectively,  as  they  say,  and  subjectively, 
— more  doctrinally,  and  more  practically, — first,  in  the 
more  general  doctrine  which  they  bring  to  view,  "  Eternal 
life  which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised  before  the  world 
began;"  and,  second,  in  the  use  which  the  apostle  makes 
of  the  doctrine,  even  to  build  on  it  a  hojje  unspeakably 
glorious  and  stable  in  its  character,  '^  In  hope,"  says  he, 
"  of  eternal  life,  which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised 
before  the  world  began." 

I.  First,  look  with  me  at  the  more  general  doctrine 
whicli  the  words  bring  to  view,  "Eternal  life  which  God, 
that  cannot  lie,  promised  before  the  world  began."  The 
apostle  makes  here  a  twofold  statement.  He  says  that 
God,  who  cannot  lie,  made  a  certain  promise  before  the 
world  began;  and  he  says,  that  it  was  "eternal  life," 
which,  before  the  world  began,  God  made  promise  of. 

1.  God,  he  tells  us,  who  cannot  lie,  made  a  certain 
promise  before  the  world  began.  Not,  observe,  formed 
a  ])urpose  merely.  We  know  well,  indeed,  from  many  a 
scripture,  that  he  formed  a  purpose.  But  the  apostle  says 
that  he  did  more, — that  he  made  a  iwomue — and  to  this 


THE  COTENANT — ITS  DEATHLESS  LIFE  AND  IIOrE.       2 8 .'J 

belongs  tlio  special  eliaraeter  under  whicli  lie  presents 
the  adorable  God  here,  "  God  that  cannot  /?>."  Tlius  tlio 
question  at  once  arises,  To  Tvhom  T(vas  the  promise  made  ? 
For,  altlunigh  a  purpose  does  not  necessarily  require  u 
second  party,  a  promise  does.  Where  there  is  a  promiser, 
and  a  promise,  there  must  of  course  be  some  one  to  receive 
it.  But,  a  promise  **  before  the  world  began," — while  as 
yet  there  was  no  creature  in  existence — to  wliom  could 
such  a  promise  be  made,  save  to  the  Eternal  Son  of  the 
Father,' — Him  of  whom  it  is  written,  "In  tlie  beginning 
was  the  "Word,  and  the  AVord  was  with  God,  and  the 
AVord  was  God;  the  same  was  in  the  beginning  with 
God," — Ilim  whom  we  find  saying  of  himself  in  the 
Proverbs,  "  I  was  set  \\j)  from  everlasting,  from  the 
beginning,  or  ever  the  earth  was ;  while  as  yet  he  had 
not  made  the  eartli,  nor  the  fields,  nor  tlie  highest  part 
of  the  dust  of  the  world.  .  .  .  Then  I  was  by  liim,  as  one 
brought  up  with  him ;  and  I  was  daily  his  delight, 
rejoicing  always  before  him ;  rejoicing  in  the  habitable 
part  of  his  earth" — his  future  earth — "  and  my  delights 
were  with  the  sons  of  men."  "  Eternal  life,  which  God, 
that  cannot  lie,  promised  before  the  world  began."  Be- 
yond all  doubt,  the  promise  was  made  to  the  Son  of  God, 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

2.  But  we  have  a  further  statement  here.  It  was 
"eternal  life,"  the  apostle  says,  of  which  God,  before  the 
world  began,  made  promise.  Eternal  life  ?  But  the  Son 
of  God  could  not  possibly  receive  such  a  promise  for 
Himself.  As  none  but  He  could  then  receive  a  promise 
at  all,  so  it  was  not  possible  He  should  receive  a  promise 
of  eternal  life  in  his  own  behalf — himself  "  the  first  and 
the  last,  and  the  living  One."  He  could  receive  it  only 
in  a  representative  character, — for  those  "  sons  of  men  " 
of  whom  we  just  now  found  him  speaking  in  the  Book  of 
Proverbs.  He  could  receive  it  only  as  the  predestined 
Mediator, — the  Head  and  Surety  of  a  people   "  given  to 


284       THE  COVEXA]S-T ITS  DEATHLESS  LIFE  A^^D  HOPE. 

him  by  the  Father,"  to  be  in  time  redeemed  by  him,  and 
eternally  saved. 

3.  And  thns  does  there  at  once  arise  a  third  momentous 
truth,  namely,  that  this  promise  could  be  made  to  Christ 
only  on  a  certain  condition, — only  on  supposition,  and  in 
respect,  of  his  whole  future  obedience  unto  death  in 
behalf  of  his  people.  Brethren,  God,  who  cannot  lie, 
could  no  more  promise  eternal  life  to  Christ  for  guilty 
men,  apart  from  such  a  condition,  than  he  can  break  the 
promise  now,  after  the  condition  has  been  fulfilled  to  the 
uttermost.  The  promise  of  which  Paul  speaks  so  briefly 
here, — speaks  only  in  passing,  and  as  taking-  it  for  granted, 
— is  the  same,  in  substance,  of  which  it  had  been  written 
in  the  prophets,  "When  thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an 
offering  for  sin,  he  shall  see  his  seed,  he  shall  prolong 
his  days,  and  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord  shall  prosper  in 
his  hand."  "By  his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous 
servant  justify  many;  for  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities." 
"I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts,  and  write  it 
in  their  hearts  ;  and  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  bo 
my  people  :  and  they  shall  all  know  me,  from  the  least  of 
them  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith  the  Lord;  for  I 
will  forgive  their  iniquit}',  and  I  will  remember  their  sin 
no  more."  "Eternal  life  which  God,  that  cannot  lie, 
promised  before  the  world  began." 

There  are  those,  in  the  main  sound  enough  in  the  faith, 
who  are  sensitively  jealous  of  such  language  as  the 
following — I  repeat  a  question  of  oar  Larger  Catechism, 
with  the  answer  to  it — "  AVitli  whom  was  the  covenant 
of  grace  made  ?  The  covenant  of  grace  was  made  with 
Christ  as  the  Second  Adam,  and  in  him  with  all  the  elect 
as  his  seed."  They  are  jealous  of  this  as  savouring,  they 
think,  less  of  Scripture,  than  of  the  systems  and  theologies 
of  men.  Indeed?  Then  let  the  words  of  the  text  be 
read  again,  "Eternal  life  which  God,  that  cannot  lie, 
promised  before  the  world  began."     To  whom  could  the 


THE  COYEXANT — ITS  DEATHLESS  LIFE  AND  lIorE.  285 

promise  be  miicle,  wliile  yet  there  was  no  creature  in 
existence,  save  to  Clirist?  And  for  whom?  Assuredly  not 
to  Christ  for  liimself,  but  for  his  i^eople,  his  seed.  Thus 
liave  we,  in  ahnost  as  many  words,  tlie  answer  of  tlie 
AVestminster  Divines,  that  "tlie  covenant  of  grace  was 
made  with  Christ  as  the  Second  Adam,  and  in  him  with 
all  the  elect  as  his  seed." 

In  truth,  however,  this  great  doctrine,  in  place  of  being 
confined  to  a  single  place  of  Scripture,  runs  through  the 
Scriptures  of  the  New  and  Old  Testaments  alike.  Thus 
— to  take  onl}^  the  New — turn  for  a  moment  with  me  to 
first  Corinthians,  fifteenth  chapter.  At  the  forty-fifth 
verse  we  read,  *'  The  first  man  Adam  was  made  a  living 
soul ;  the  last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening  Spirit.  .  .  . 
The  first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy ;  the  second  man  is  the 
Lord  from  heaven."  Here  have  we  plainly  the  doctrine  of 
two  public  Heads  or  Sureties  of  mankind, — the  first  man, 
and  the  second  man, — two  Eepresentatives,  the  one,  of  all 
his  natural  posterity,  the  other,  of  all  his  spiritual  seed. 
But  this  necessarily  involves  the  idea  of  a  Divine  cove- 
nant with  these  public  persons  respectively.  They  could 
occui^y  the  place  of  public  heads  or  representatives,  only 
in  virtue  of  a  Divine  compact  entered  into  with  them 
respectively, — in  virtue  of  promises  given  to  them  in 
behalf  of  their  respective  seeds. 

Or  turn,  for  an  instant,  to  the  Apocalypse,  the  third 
chapter,  and  read  the  twelfth  verse,  "  Him  that  over- 
coineth  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God ; 
and  he  shall  go  no  more  out:  and  I  will  write  upon  hiiu 
the  name  of  my  God,  and  the  name  of  the  city  of  my  God, 
which  is  New  Jerusalem,  which  comcth  down  out  of 
heaven  from  my  God."  Here,  four  times  over,  does 
Christ  use  the  expression,  "My  God."  But  it  is  well 
known  that  when,  in  Scripture  language,  Jehovah  is 
called  the  God  of  any  one,  it  signifies  his  being  in  covenant 
with  him,— engaged  by  promise  to  be   his  portion   and 


286      THE  COVEXANT ITS  DEATHLESS  LIFE  AND  HOPE. 

heritage.  Tims,  "I  am  the  Grocl  of  Abraham,  and  the 
God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob;"  and  again,  "I 
will  establish  my  covenant  with  thee,  to  be  a  God  to  thee, 
and  to  thy  seed  after  thee."  But  Jehovah  is  here  spoken 
of,  again  and  again,  as  the  God  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Indeed,  no  title  of  God  is  more  common  in  the  New 
Testament  than  this.  It  is  thus  declared,  in  effect,  that 
Jehovah  is  in  covenant  with  Messiah.  But  in  what 
character?  Certainly  not  for  himself,  but  as  the  Head 
and  Surety  of  his  people.  To  Christ,  in  this  character, 
does  Jehovah  make  himself  over  to  be  his  God,  and  to  all 
the  members  of  his  body,  in  him,  and  through  him — '*  Go 
to  my  brethren,  said  he,  and  say  unto  them,  I  ascend 
unto  my  Father,  and  your  Father ;  and  to  my  God,  and 
your  God."  "Behold,  I,  and  the  children  whom  God 
hath  given  me."  "  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  blessed  us  with  all  spiritual 
blessings  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ."  "Heirs  of  God, 
joint  heirs  with  Christ" — "Eternal  life  which  God, 
that  cannot  lie,  promised  before  the  world  began." 

11.  But  now,  in  place  of  going  into  the  evidence  of  the 
Old  Testament  to  the  same  effect, — of  the  prophets  and 
the  psalms, — (though  it  is  quite  as  abundant  and  clear  as 
that  of  the  New),  I  pass  from  the  more  general  doctrine 
of  the  text,  to  the  use  which  the  apostle  makes  of  it  even 
to  build  on  it,  as  I  said,  a  hope  unspeakably  glorious  and 
stable  in  its  character,  "In  hope,"  says  he,  "of  eternal 
life,  which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised  before  the  world 
began." 

Generally  let  me  say  here,  that  it  is  to  my  mind  pro- 
foundly interesting,  to  find  that  Paul, — that  the  great 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles, — was  able  to  endure  his  trials,  and 
discharge  his  duties, — able  to  bear  up  amid  the  endless 
work  and  warfare  of  his  ministrj^and  apostleship,  only  by  the 
power  of  the  same  faith  and  hope  which  is  yours,  believers, 


THE  COYEXAXT ITS  DEATKLESS  LIFE  AND  HOrE.        28/ 

at  this  hour,  "  Taul,  a  servant  of  God,  and  an  apostle  of 
Jesus  Christ,  according  to  the  faith  of  God's  elect,  and  the 
acknowledging-  of  the  truth  which  is  after  godliness ;  in 
hope  of  eternal  life,  which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised 
before  the  world  began."  And  so,  in  the  immediately 
previous  epistle, — in  the  first  chapter  of  Second  Timothy, 
we  find  him  saying,  ''AVhereunto  I  am  appointed  a 
preacher,  and  an  apostle,  and  a  teacher  of  the  Gentiles. 
For  the  which  cause  I  also  suffer  these  things  :  neverthe- 
less I  am  not  ashamed  ;  for  I  know  whom  I  have  believed, 
and  am  persuaded  that  he  is  able  to  keep  tliat  which  I 
have  committed  to  him  against  that  day."  But  now  look  a 
little  more  closely  with  me  at  the  "hope"  the  apostle  speaks 
of,  in  the  glory  of  it,  and  in  the  immoveable  stahility  of  it. 
1.  First,  in  its  glory.  It  is  the  hope  of  ''  eternal  life." 
Brethren,  so  familiar  have  we  grown  with  this  word  in 
the  Scriptures,  that  we  fail  to  realise  the  wonderfulness 
of  it — eternal  life  !  Ah,  in  this  world  of  ceaseless  change, 
decay,  corruption,  death,  graves  everywhere,  "  eternal 
life," — life  defying  death,  surviving  death,  which  death 
cannot  kill,  nor  the  grave  swallow  up, — life  which,  when 
myriads  of  ages  have  passed,  shall  only  have  begun,  and 
when  myriads  more  have  passed,  shall  be  no  nearer  an 
end!  And  it  is  "eternal  life" — not  existence  merely — 
life  eternal,  in  blessedness  and  joy,  as  it  is  written,  "  In 
thy  presence  is  fulness  of  joy ;  at  thy  right  hand  are 
pleasures  for  evermore:"  life  eternal,  in  dignity  and 
glory,  as  it  is  written,  "  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I 
grant  to  sit  with  me  in  my  throne  ;"  "a  crown  of  glory 
that  fadeth  not  away:"  life  eternal,  in  boundless  riches, 
l^ossessions,  as  it  is  written,  "  Heirs  of  God" — "  Come, 
ye  blessed,  inherit  the  kingdom" — "An  inheritance 
incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away." 
But  I  cannot  tell  what  eternal  life  is.  "  It  doth  not  yet 
appear  what  we  shall  be :  but  wo  know  tliat,  when  he 
shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him ;  for  we  shall  see  him 


288      THE  COVEXAIS-T — ITS  DEATHLESS  LIFE  AXD  HOPE. 

as  he  is."  This,  at  least,  we  know,  that  the  ''eternal 
life"  shall  have  in  it  the  expansion  to  the  full  of  all  the 
faculties  and  affections  of  the  renewed  nature  ;  the  perfect 
harmony  of  those  faculties  and  affections,  both  among 
themselves  and  with  the  will  of  the  adorable  God ;  the 
end  of  the  last  remnants  of  sin  ;  all  tears  for  ever  dried 
up ;  body  and  soul  reunited  in  a  holy,  deathless,  com- 
panionship, and  made  perfectly  blessed  in  the  full  enjoying 
of  God  to  all  eternity !  ' '  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
heard,  neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the 
things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him." 
"  Eternal  life" — the  glory  of  the  hope. 

2.  Then  see  the  immoveable  s^«rJ///^'y  of  it.  For, 
(1.)  First,  the  apostle  says  that  it  is  built  on  the 
"promise  of  God  who  cannot  lie."  Ah,  if  that  is  not 
security  enough,  then  farewell,  at  least,  to  all  possible 
security  in  the  universe  !  When  Scripture,  over  and  over, 
says  that  "  God  cannot  lie,"  it  is  as  if  to  say  that  he  must 
cease  to  he, — cease  to  be  God, — ere  he  can  deny  himself, 
— forswear  himself, — falsify  his  word,  his  promise,  since 
truth  is  his  ver^^  nature,  "Wherein  God,  willing  more 
abundantly  to  shew  unto  the  heirs  of  promise  the  im- 
mutability of  his  counsel,  confirmed  it  by  an  oath ;  that 
by  two  immutable  things,  in  which  it  was  impossible  for 
God  to  lie,  we  might  have  a  strong  consolation,  who  have 
fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  upon  the  hope  set  before  us." 

(2.)  Nor,  second,  is  this  a  promise  of  God  merely, — 
one  among  many ;  it  is,  in  a  sort,  the  promise,  the  pro- 
mise pre-eminently,  of  Jehovah,  as  the  words  intimate, 
"  eternal  life  which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised  before 
the  world  began  "  So,  in  the  first  ej^istle  of  John,  we 
read,  "This  is  the  j)i'Oinise  that  he  hath  promised  us, 
even  eternal  life."  And  again  and  again  we  read  of 
"  eternal  life,"  as  of  the  grand  central  blessing — "  I  give 
unto  my  sheep  eternal  life."  "Thou  hast  given  him 
power  over  all  flesh,  that  he  should  give  eternal  life  to  as 


THE  COYEXAXT ITS  DEATHLESS  LIFE  AXD  IIOrE.        2B9 

many  as  llioii  hast  i^ivcn  lilm."  *'  Wlioso  eatotli  my  flosli, 
and  drinkotk  my  l)lood,  liatli  eternal  life."  I  say  the 
liope  is  built  on  a  promise,  on  ilie  promise,  of  "  God  who 
cannot  lie." 

(3.)  Again,  tlie  promise  wliich  this  hope  is  built  on 
was  made  by  God  *'  before  the  world  began."  See,  I  i)ray 
you,  tlie  immoveable  stability  whicli  lies  here.  Eor  this 
world  is  one  of  ceaseless  fluctuations,  vicissitudes.  Had 
the  promise  arisen  amidst  the  changes  and  emergencies 
of  time,  then,  one  of  them  having  begotten  it,  another 
might  peradventure  liave  made  a  final  end  of  it.  But  it 
was  anterior  to  them  all, — made  in  full  foresight  of  them 
all, — made  an  eternity  before  them  all.  And  thus  none 
of  them  can  in  any  wise  affect  its  stability.  There  was 
but  one  tiling  that  could  have  seemed  likely  to  affect  it, 
namely  sin.  But  sin  was  the  very  occasion  of  the  promise. 
The  Avhole  covenant  of  grace  arose  by  reason  of  sin. 
And  tliat  runs  into  yet  another  ground  of  stability  here. 

(4.)  Fourth,  the  promise  this  hope  is  built  on  is,  as' 
we  have  seen,  the  promise  of  a  covenant^ — a  j)romise  made 
only  on  express  and  determinate  conditions.  And  own 
that  these  have  been  to  the  uttermost  fulfilled,  it  has 
become  matter  of  justice  no  less  than  truth, — of  rectitude, 
as  well  as  faithfulness,  ''  My  righteous  servant  shall 
justify  rnanj^  for  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities.  Therefore 
will  I  divide  him  a  portion  with  the  great,  and  he  shall 
divide  the  spoil  with  the  strong ;  because  he  hath  poured 
out  his  soul  unto  death  ;  and  he  was  numbered  with  the 
transgressors;  and  he  bare  the  sin  of  many,  and  made 
intercession  for  the  transgressors." 

Other  grounds  of  stability,  pointed  to  more  indirectly 
in  the  text,  might  have  been  mentioned,  such  as  this,  that 
the  promise  the  hope  is  built  on,  is  already  enjoyed  by  the 
believer  in  the  earnests  and  foretastes  of  it,  "  He  that 
believcth  on  me  halli  everlasting  life."  *'  Who  hatli 
saved  us,  and  called  us  with  an  holy  calling,  not  according 

T 


290        THE  COVENANT ITS  DEATHLESS  LIFE  AND  HOPE. 

to  our  works,  but  according  to  his  own  purpose  and 
grace,  wliich  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the 
world  began."  ''We  that  are  in  this  tabernacle  do 
groan,  being  burdened:  not  for  that  we  would  be  un- 
clothed, but  clothed  upon,  that  mortality  might  be 
swallowed  up  of  life.  Now  he  that  hath  wrought  us  for 
the  self-same  thing  is  God,  who  also  hath  given  unto  us 
the  earnest  of  the  Spirit.  Therefore  we  are  always 
confident,  knowing  that,  whilst  we  are  at  home  in  the 
body,  we  are  absent  from  the  Lord:  (for  we  walk  by 
faith,  not  by  sight :)  we  are  confident,  I  say,  and  willing 
rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and  to  be  present  with 
the  Lord."  "  In  hope  of  eternal  life,  which  God,  that 
cannot  lie,  promised  before  the  world  began." 

Three  words  of  inference,  before  I  close. 

First,  see  the  absolute  security  of  the  ransomed  Church 
of  God,  and  each  living  member  of  it.  For,  if  the  cove- 
nant had  been  made  only  with  the  believer  himself,  then 
might  his  faith  and  holiness  have  given  way,  and  his  soul 
been  eternally  lost.  But  he  is  only  by  faith  instated  in  a 
covenant,  which  was  made  with  the  Son  of  God  in  his 
behalf  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, — a  covenant, 
all  whose  conditions  were  fulfilled  in  the  work  of  the 
Mediator, — and  whose  promises  run  in  terms  like  these, 
"  I  will  put  my  fear  in  their  hearts,  that  they  shall  not 
depart  from  me."  "  I  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you,  and 
will  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep 
my  judgments,  and  do  them."  Taking  hold  of  this 
covenant,  we  embrace  and  enter  into  a  life  that  cannot 
die, — the  life  of  Christ  himself,  in  fact.  Our  security  is 
bound  up  with  the  life  of  the  Head  and  Surety  of  the 
covenant.  "  Because  I  live,"  said  he,  "  ye  shall  live 
also."  "My  Father,  and  your  Father;  my  God,  and 
your  God."  "  If  his  children  forsake  my  law,  and  walk 
not  in  my  judgments,  I  will  visit  their  transgression  with 
the  rod,  and  their  iniquity  with  stripes.     Nevertheless  my 


THE  COYEXANT — ITS  DEATHLESS  LIEE  AND  IIOrE.       291 

lovingkindncss  Tvill  I  not  utterly  take  from  liim,  nor 
suffer  my  faithfulness  to  fail.  My  covenant  will  I  not 
break,  nor  alter  the  thing  that  is  gone  out  of  my  lips. 
Once  have  I  sworn  by  my  holiness,  that  I  will  not  lie 
unto  David.  Ilis  seed  shall  endure  for  ever,  and  his 
throne  as  the  sun  before  me."  "  The  mountains  shall 
depart,  and  the  hills  be  removed ;  but  my  kindness  shall 
not  depart  from  thee,  neither  shall  the  covenant  of  my 
peace  be  removed,  saith  the  Lord  that  hath  mercy  on 
thee." 

Second,  you  remember  those  words  in  Bomans,  ''There- 
fore it  is  of  faith,  that  it  might  be  by  grace ;  to  the  end 
the  promise  might  be  sure  to  all  the  seed."  It  is  of  faith, 
that  it  might  he  lij  grace.  That  is  to  say,  there  is  an 
open  entrance  for  all  of  us,  sinners,  into  the  whole 
inviolable  security  of  this  covenant  of  promise,  by  faith 
alone,  without  the  deeds  of  the  law — "  it  is  of  faith, 
that  it  might  be  by  grace."  It  had  been  but  mocking 
us  to  tell  of  some  richly  stored  and  furnished  edifice, 
without  a  door  of  entrance.  But  behold  at  once  the 
edifice,  and  the  door  into  it.  The  edifice,  *'  This  is  the 
Father's  will  which  hath  sent  me,  that  of  all  which  he 
hath  given  me  I  should  lose  nothing,  but  should  raise  it 
up  again  at  the  last  day."  And  the  open  door,  ''And 
this  is  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  that  every  one 
which  seeth  the  Son,  and  believeth  on  him,  may  have 
everlasting  life ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day." 
The  edifice,  "An  everlasting  covenant,  ordered  in  all 
things,  and  sure."  The  entrance  into  it,  "  Ilim  that 
cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  "Come  unto 
me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest."  "The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say.  Come. 
And  let  him  that  heareth  say.  Come.  And  let  him  that  is 
athirst  come  :  and  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water 
of  life  freely." 

But,    thirdly    and   finally,    I    end   with    the    "hope" 


292       THE  COVENANT ITS  DEATHLESS  LIFE  AND  HOPE. 

(daughter  of  the  faith), — the  undying  hope, — the  "  hope 
of  eternal  life,  which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised 
before  the  world  began."  What  a  hope  this  for  storms 
and  tempests — "  anchor  of  the  soul"  indeed,  "  sure  and 
stedfast "  !  What  a  hope  for  afflictions,  to  sustain 
under  them, — for  duties,  to  carry  through  them, — for 
death  and  the  grave,  to  give  the  victory  over  them ! 
"  Therefore  my  heart  is  glad,  and  my  glory  rejoiceth  ; 
my  flesh  also  shall  rest  in  hope."  "  0  death,  where  is 
thy  sting?  0  grave,  where  is  thy  victory?"  Many  a 
falsehood,  beloved,  has  been  written  in  the  epitaphs  of 
the  dead.  Here  is  an  epitaph  which  might  be  as  truly 
as  sublimely  written  on  the  tombs  of  all  who  sleep  in 
Jesus,   "  In  hope  of  eternal   life,  which   God,    that 


XXI. 

THE  GOLDEN  SAYING. 

'*  /  have  shexced  you  all  th'uKjs,  how  that  so  labouring 
ye  ought  to  support  the  weak,  and  to  remember  the 
words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,   hoio  he  said,   It  is  more 

BLESSED  TO  GIVE  THAN  TO  RECEIVE." — ActS  XX.  35, 

It  is  a  golden  saying  truly,  this  of  our  Lord's,  snatched 
for  us  from  oblivion  (for  it  is  not  found  anywhere  in  the 
Gospels)  by  the  inspired  apostle,  and  handed  down  by  him 
for  the  use  of  the  Church  in  every  age,  "  It  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive."  Yery  honestly,  I  think,  and  with 
unabashed  countenance,  Paul  could  press  it  on  the  regard 
of  the  Ephesian  elders  ;  for  his  own  life, — whole  apostolic 
life, — had  been  an  exemplification  of  it.  And  it  was 
well  that  so  it  was,  for  the  sake  of  their  accepting  it  at 
his  hands.  For,  so  contrary  is  the  sa^'ing  to  the  practice 
at  least, — the  whole  spirit  and  practical  judgments, — of 
mankind,  that  when  a  public  teacher  declares  it  to  be 
more  happy  and  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,  the 
question  is  apt  enough  to  arise  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers, 
Does  he  really  believe  it  ?  But  this  man  had  left  no  possible 
room  for  such  a  question  arising  with  reference  to  him. 
Second  in  this  respect  only  to  his  glorious  Master,  his 
Avhole  life,  as  I  have  said,  had  been  an  exemplification  of 
the  saying,  ''  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive  " — 
not  much,  certainly,  in  respect  to  the  giving  of  property, 
of  which  he  had  but  little  to  give.  But  while  his  very 
poverty  was  only  a  nobler  exemplification  of  the  saying — 


294  THE  GOLDEN  SAYING. 

as  to  all  other  kinds  of  giving,  behold  his  whole  apostolic 
life  in  the  spirit  of  those  words,  for  example,  "  I  will  not 
be  burdensome  to  you,  for  I  seek  not  yours,  but  you ;  for 
the  children  ought  not  to  lay  up  for  the  parents,  but  the 
parents  for  the  children  " — "  So,  being  affectionately  desir- 
ous of  you,  we  were  willing  to  have  imparted  unto  you, 
not  the  gospel  of  God  only,  but  also  our  own  souls,  because 
ye  were  dear  unto  us."  "  Therefore  watch."  says  he  at  the 
thirty-first  verse  here,  ''  and  remember,  that  by  the  space 
of  three  years  I  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one  night  and 
day  with  tears" — ah,  that  was  giving!  ''And  now, 
brethren,  I  commend  you  to  God,  and  to  the  word  of 
his  grace,  which  is  able  to  build  you  u^d,  and  to  give  you 
an  inheritance  among  all  them  that  are  sanctified.  I  have 
coveted  no  man's  silver,  or  gold,  or  apparel" — no  very 
good  coat,  methinks,  he  must  have  had,  who  could  protest 
that  he  had  coveted  no  man's  apparel — "Yea,  ye  your- 
selves know,  that  these  hands  have  ministered  unto  my 
necessities,  and  to  them  that  were  with  me.  I  have 
shewed  you  all  things,  how  that  so  labouring  ye  ought  to 
support  the  weak,  and  to  remember  the  words  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  how  he  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than 
to  receive." 

But  why  speak  I  of  PauVs  exemplifying  this  saying  ? 
If  you  would  see  it  exemplified  in  its  perfection,  jou 
must  go  to  his  Master, — to  the  utterer  of  the  saying. 
0  yes,  second  only  to  Him  in  this  Paul  might  be ; 
but  second,  assuredly, — following  at  an  immeasurable 
distance  behind, — even  Paul  was — behind  Him  who  "was 
rich,  and  for  our  sakes  became  poor,  that  we  through 
his  poverty  might  be  rich"! — behind  Him  who  "was 
in  the  form  of  God,  and  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be 
equal  with  God,  but  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and 
took  on  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the 
likeness  of  men,  and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man, 
humbled  himself,  and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even 


THE  GOLDEN  SAYIXG.  20-3 

tlio  death  of  the  cross !  " — behind  Him  who,  in  uttering 
the  saying'  without  reference  to  himself,  might  yet  have 
written  in  it  the  motto  of  his  life,  from  Bethlehem  to 
Calvary  and  the  grave — "It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive  "  ! 

I  would  fain  unfold  a  little, — confirm,  explain,  illus- 
trate,— the  saying,  if  I  can.  Let  me,  however,  firs\ 
guard  myself  and  you  against  a  mistake,  or  rather  vice, 
to  which  assuredly  it  lends  no  countenance.  I  mean 
the  pride  of  such  as  decline  to  be  receivers  at  the 
hands  of  others,  lest  they  should  be  brought  under 
obligations  to  them.  A  vice  this  is  in  the  dealings  of 
men  with  men,  but  a  sin  eminently  heinous  and  deadly 
in  the  dealings  of  men  with  God.  It  is  a  vice  in  the 
dealings  of  men  with  men.  For  God  has  so  ordered 
our  relationships  one  to  another,  as  that  we  shall  be 
as  it  were  interdependent,  and,  by  a  certain  mutual 
indebtedness,  knit  together  in  the  ties  of  a  closer  affec- 
tion. 1  have  spoken  of  Paul.  Certainly  he  did  decline, 
on  grounds  of  high  Christian  expediency,  to  receive 
anything  at  the  hands  of  the  Corinthian  church.  But 
see  how  he  si^eaks  to  another  of  the  churches,  '*  I 
rejoiced  in  the  Lord  greatly,  that  now  at  the  last  your 
care  of  me  hath  flourished  again ;  wherein  ye  were  also 
careful,  but  ye  lacked  opportunity.  Not  that  I  speak 
in  respect  of  want,"  &c.  "Notwithstanding  ye  have 
well  done  that  ye  did  communicate  with  my  affliction." 
Yea,  the  Lord  Jesus  himself  did  not  decline  to  be  u 
receiver, — did  not  disdain  to  ask  drink  of  the  woman 
of  Samaria ;  to  be  indebted  to  Martha  and  her  sister 
lor  a  home  at  Bethany ;  to  be  indebted  for  the  means  of 
his  earthly  support,  partly  to  "  certain  women  who 
ministered  to  him  of  their  substance." 

But  if  tlie  pride  of  declining  to  receive  is  a  vice  in  the 
dealings  of  men  with  men,  it  is,  as  I  have  said,  a  sin 
eminently  heinous  and  deadly  in  the  dealings  of  men 


296  THE  GOLDEIS-  SAYJITG. 

with  Grod.  For  tlie  state  of  tlie  case  is  this.  We  are 
before  God  "wretclied,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and 
blind,  and  naked."  He,  in  the  exceeding  riches  of  his 
grace,  comes  offering  to  us,  in  Jesus  Christ,  gold  tried  in 
the  fire  to  enrich  us,  and  white  raiment  to  cover  us,  and 
eyesalve  to  anoint  our  eyes  that  we  may  see — offering 
us  water  of  life,  and  bread  of  life, — all  things  belong- 
ing to  an  everlasting  salvation.  If  we  will  not  be  content 
to  take  all  at  his  hands,  and  be  eternal  debtors  to  his 
mere  mercy,  then  must  we  make  up  our  minds  to  be 
receivers  at  length  in  a  far  different  way, — to  receive  the 
wages  of  our  sin  in  an  "  everlasting  destruction  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power ! " 
0  yes,  it  is  the  very  soul  and  glory  of  the  gospel,  that  God 
comes  to  us  in  it,  not  to  get  anything  from  us,  but  to  give 
everything  to  us.  And  that  faith  which  is  its  counterpart, 
— the  faith  which  answers  to  it,  and  saves  the  soul, — is 
our,  not  giving,  but  taking, — not  giving  aught  to  God,  but 
receiving  all  most  freely  at  his  hand.  At  the  root  of  what- 
soever giving  on  our  part  He  will  acknowledge,  lies  neces- 
sarily that  receiving.  But  then,  so  soon  as  we  have  found  our 
place  among  the  blessed  ones  of  whom  it  is  written,  "As 
many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become 
the  sons  of  God,"  there  meets  us  that  word,  "Freely  ye 
have  received,  freely  give;"  and  we  hear  this  saying  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  never  to  be  enough  pondered  by  us, 
"It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 

Attempting,  then,  to  confirm,  explain,  illustrate,  the 
saying  a  little,  I  observe  that — 

1 .  First,  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,  be- 
cause it  is  more  like  God, — more  noble,  excellent,  God- 
like. For  the  glorious  God  is  ever  giving.  Behold  him 
opening  his  hand,  and  satisfying  the  desire  of  every- 
thing that  lives ;  giving  to  the  beast  his  food,  and  to  the 
young  ravens  which  cry ;  giving  to  all  life,  and  breath, 


THE  GOLDEN  SAYIXG.  297 

and  all  tilings;  giving  lis  riclily  all  things  to  enjoy — 
tlie  giver  of  every  good  and  porfoct  gift!  But  pre- 
eminent among  his  endless  gifts,  behold  Ilim,  whon  we 
were  ready  to  drop  into  hell,  opening  no  longer  his  hand 
merely,  bnt  his  bosom,  his  heart,  and  giving  forth  from  it 
his  only  begotten  Son, — not  sparing  that  Son, — and  now, 
with  him,  freely  giving  us  all  things  !  Hear  Him  saying, 
"  I  will  give  thee  for  a  covenant  of  the  people,  for  a  light 
of  the  Gentiles" — *'A  new  heart  will  I  give  you" — "I 
will  give  you  an  heart  of  flesh" — "I  will  give  them  one 
heart,  and  one  way,  that  they  may  fear  me  for  ever,  for  the 
good  of  them,  and  of  their  children  after  them."  Yea, 
behold  him  giving  Himself  to  us  in  an  everlasting  cove- 
nant ordered  in  all  things  and  sure,  saying,  "I  will  be  to 
you  a  God,  and  ye  shall  be  to  me  a  people  "■ — "  I  will  be  a 
Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters." 
Thus,  evidently,  it  is  more  Godlike  to  give  than  to  receive. 
And  hence  those  great  words,  "  I  say  unto  you.  Love  your 
enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that 
hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  which  despitefidly  use  3'ou, 
and  persecute  you,  that  ye  may  he  the  childreyi " — by  your 
likeness  to  him  manifested  to  be  the  children — "  of  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven ;  for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise 
on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  seudoth  rain  on  the  just 
and  on  the  unjust."  "  Be  ye  followers  (imitators)  of  God," 
writes  Paul,  "as  dear  children,  and  walk  in  love" — 
"  kind  one  to  another,  tenderhearted,  forgiving  one 
another" — ah,  an  illustrious  form  of  giving,  /yrgiving ! 
— "even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake  luith  forgiven  you." 
It  is  more  blessed  to  give  tlian  to  receive,  I  say  lirst, 
because  it  is  more  Godlike. 

2.  But  second,  and  more  sjiecifically,  because  it  is  more 
Christlike.  Already  this  has  been  glanced  at ;  but  it  must 
be  touched  on  a  little  further.  True,  as  was  said,  Christ 
did  not  decline, — did  not  disdain, — to  be  a  receiver. 
But  it  is  very  remarkable  how  his  receiving  ran   ever 


298  THE  GOLDEISr  SAYIXG. 

into  a  mucli  more  abundant  giving.  Did  he  ask  drink 
of  the  woman  of  Samaria  ?  It  was  to  make  way  for 
that  word,  "  If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God,  and  wlio 
it  is  that  saith  to  thee,  Give  me  to  drink,  thou 
wouldest  have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would  have  given 
thee  living  water."  Did  he  accept  a  home  of  the 
sisters  of  Bethany?  How  profoundly  they  felt  that,  in 
accepting  it,  he  was  rather  giving  to  them  an  ever- 
lasting home  !  Did  he  permit  those  women  to  minister 
to  him  of  their  substance?  But  he  had  first  bestowed 
on  them  the  everlasting  riches ;  for  the  words  are, 
"There  were  with  him  certain  women,  which  had  been 
healed  of  evil  spirits  and  infirmities,  Mary  called  Magda- 
lene, out  of  whom  went  seven  devils,  and  Joanna  the  wife 
of  Chuza,  Herod's  steward,  and  Susanna,  and  many  others, 
which  ministered  unto  him  of  their  substance." 

But  where  should  one  begin,  or  where  end,  if  one 
would  speak  of  the  givings  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  His 
accounting  it  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive  ?  For 
his  entire  life  resembled,  as  to  this,  the  sun  in  the 
heavens,  scattering  benefits  in  his  whole  course  from 
his  rising  to  his  fall.  Behold  how  he  "  went  about 
doing  good,  and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed  with 
the  devil," — how  he  "  went  about  all  the  cities  and 
villages,  teaching  in  their  synagogues,  and  preaching  the 
gospel  of  the  kingdom,  and  healing  every  sickness  and 
every  disease  among  the  people."  On  his  way  to  work  one 
work  of  beneficence,  see  how  he  performs  another — how, 
on  his  way  to  the  house  of  Jairus,  for  example,  he  heals 
the  woman  that  had  the  issue  of  blood  twelve  years,  and 
then  passes  on  to  raise  the  young  daughter  of  Jairus  from 
the  dead.  "  Whithersoever  he  entered,  into  villages,  or 
cities,  or  country,  they  laid  the  sick  in  the  streets,  and 
besought  him  that  they  might  touch  if  it  were  but  the 
border  of  his  garment;  and  as  many  as  touched  him 
were  made  whole."    And  yet  were  these  cures  little  more 


THE  GOLDEX  SAYING.  299 

tlian  synil)ols  of  his  liig-lior  and  more  peculiar  benefits. 
"  Give,  give,"  was  ever  his  hmguage — but  truly  after  a 
new  fashion.  There  it  is,  "  The  bread  that  I  will 
give  is  my  flesh,  which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of  the 
world" — '' Tlie  meat  whicli  cndureth  unto  everlasting- 
life,  which  the  Son  of  man  shall  give  unto  you" — "  Come 
unto  me,  and  I  will  give  you  rest" — "My  peace  I  give 
unto  you  " — "  I  give  unto  my  sheep  eternal  life,  and  they 
shall  never  perish."  And  still,  from  the  throne, — from 
the  heaven  of  heavens, — his  voice  is  heard,  "  I  will 
give  to  him  that  is  athirst  of  the  fountain  of  the  water  of 
life  freely" — "I  will  give  you  a  crown  of  life  " — *'  To  him 
that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life ; " 
*'  give  to  eat  of  the  hidden  manna  ;  "  "  give  to  sit  with  me 
in  my  throne  !  "  Oh,  I  would  have  you  to  be  in  love  with 
giving.  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,  because, 
lirst,  it  is  more  Godlike ;  and  second,  specifically,  more 
Christlike. 

3.  But,  thirdly,  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  re- 
ceive, because  it  is  at  once  the  sign  and  the  source  of  a 
higher  and  purer  happiness.  It  is  the  si(/)i  of  a  higher 
happiness, — tells  of  a  higher  blessedness  already  enjoyed 
b}'  the  giving  one.  The  truth  is  that  Christian  giving  of  all 
kinds — property,  sympathy,  counsel,  prayer — flows  out 
of  a  certain  afiluence  of  peace  and  happiness,  as  we  read 
of  the  Macedonian  Christians,  for  instance,  that  the 
"abundance  of  their  joy,  and  their  deep  poverty,  abounded 
unto  the  riches  of  their  liberality."  And,  on  the  other 
liand,  what  call  we  the  mere  receiver,  the  covetous,  tho 
hoarder,  but  miser — wretched  one  ?  But  he  who  givetli 
eliristiauly  is  already  ha^ipy  and  blessed,  as  it  is  written 
of  the  people  of  Israel,  that  they  *'  rejoiced  for  that  they 
ofl*ered  willingly,  because  w^ith  perfect  heart  they  off'ered 
willingly  vmto  the  Lord  ;  and  David  the  king  also  rejoiced 
with  great  joy."  And,  as  giving  is  the  sign,  so  also  is  it 
the  source,  of  a  higher  and  purer  happiness.     0,  is  there 


300  THE  GOLDEN  SAYING. 

one  among  us  wlio  lias  known  auglit  of  what  Job  said 
of  himself,  *'  The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish 
came  upon  me,  and  I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for 
joy  "  ?  I  am  sure  that  his  own  heart  was  made  to  sing 
with  a  joy  yet  deeper  than  hers.  Or,  let  any  Sab- 
bath-school teacher,  who,  week  after  week,  has  gathered 
the  destitute  children  from  the  streets  and  lanes  hard 
by,  and  taught  them  of  the  love  of  Christ,  and  the 
pearl  of  great  price,  and  the  new  heart,  and  the  ever- 
lasting joy  and  rest  for  the  weary,  say  if  it  is  not  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.  Our  blessed  Lord  did 
ask  drink  of  the  woman  of  Samaria  ;  and  I  am  not  quite 
certain  that  he  obtained  it.  But  I  am  sure  of  this, 
that  soon  his  thirst  was  forgotten  in  the  divine  satisfac- 
tion of  finding  another  lost  sheep,  and  laying  it  on  his 
shoulders,  rejoicing — so  that  when  the  disciples  came 
from  the  city,  and  said  to  him,  Master,  eat,  he  said,  I 
have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know  not  of.  And  they  said. 
Hath  any  man  brought  him  ought  to  eat  ?  Jesus  saith 
unto  them.  My  meat  is  to  do  the  Avill  of  him  that  sent  me, 
and  to  finish  his  work — for  "  it  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive." 

4.  But  again,  fourthly,  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than 
to  receive,  because  it  will  soon  be  crowned  with  the  re- 
ward of  an  unutterable  and  everlasting  happiness.  Suffi- 
cient reward,  indeed,  were  the  present  happiness  of  which 
it  is  both  the  sign  and  the  source.  But  we  hear  our 
Lord  Jesus  saying,  * '  Whosoever  shall  give  to  drink  unto 
one  of  these  little  ones  a  cup  of  cold  water  only  in 
the  name  of  a,  disciple,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  shall  in 
no  wise  lose  his  reward."  And  we  hear  him  saying, 
"  When  thou  makest  a  dinner  or  a  supper,  call  not 
thy  friends,  nor  thy  brethren,  neither  th}^  kinsmen,  nor 
thy  rich  neighbours  ;  lest  they  also  bid  thee  again,  and  a 
recompense  be  made  thee.  But  when  thou  makest  a 
feast,   call  the  poor,   the  maimed,  the  lame,  the  blind. 


THE  GOLDEX  SAYING.  301 

And  tliou  slialt  bo  LIosschI  ;  for  they  cannot  recompense 
thee  :  for  thou  shalt  bo  recompensed  at  the  resurrection  of 
the  just."  And  what  a  rccomponso  !  *'  IIo  that  hath  pity 
upon  the  poor  lendeth  unto  the  Lord;  and  tliat  which  lie 
hatli  given  will  ho  pay  liini  again."  But  what  a  repay- 
ment, overpaj-nient,  of  bliss!  "  Then  shall  tho  Xing  say 
unto  them  on  his  right  hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my 
Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world.  For  I  was  an  hungered,  and  yo 
gave  me  meat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink  ;  I 
was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in;  naked,  and  ye  clothed 
me ;  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me ;  I  was  in  prison,  and 
ye  came  unto  me.  .  .  .  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto 
one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it 
imto  me."  Ah,  a  kingdom  for  a  little  broad,  or  a  cup  of 
cold  water !  Truly — "  ^My  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts, 
neither  are  your  Avays  my  ways ;  for  as  the  heavens  are 
higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  my  ways  higher  than  your 
ways,  and  my  thoughts  than  your  thoughts."  And  yet, 
as  an  old  writer  has  said,  "The  less  thou  lookest  on  it, 
the  surer  thou  shalt  find  it — if  labouring  with  thyself  to 
serve  God  for  Himself,  in  respect  of  whom  even  heaven 
itself  is  but  a  sinister  end." 

5.  But  once  more,  and  in  a  sentence,  it  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive,  because  it  is  likor  heaven — liker, 
I  mean,  to  the  peculiar  and  characteristic,  highest,  happi- 
ness of  heaven — where  no  more  shall  it  bo  prayer,  telling 
of  want, — of  asking,  receiving, — but  praise,  which  is  a 
giving  to  God  himself — to  speak  with  reverence — as  he 
condescends  to  speak,  "Whoso  ofFereth  praise  glorifieth 
me" — "  Give  unto  the  Lord,  0  ye  kindreds  of  the  people, 
give  unto  the  Lord  glory  and  strenglli ;  give  unto  tho 
Lord  tho  glory  due  unto  his  name." — Well ;  I  have  said 
that  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,  because  it 
is  more  Godlike;  because  it  is  more  Christliko;  because  it 
is  at  once  the  sign  and  the  source  of  a  higher  and  purer 


302  THE  GOLDEN  SATING. 

happiness;  because  it  will  soon  be  crowned  with  the 
gracious  reward  of  an  unutterable  and  everlasting  blessed- 
ness ;  and  because  it  is  more  like  heaven, — the  peculiar  and 
characteristic,  highest,  happiness  of  heaven. 

But  I  may  not  omit  to  touch,  before  closing,  on  the  giving 
itself,  which  is  so  blessed.  It  is,  I  think,  threefold — the 
giving  of  our  means ;  the  giving  of  our  sympathy,  help, 
counsel ;  and  the  giving  of  our  prayers. 

1.  First,  the  giving  of  our  means,  either  for  relief  of 
temporal  distress,  or  for  the  advancement  of  the  cause 
and  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  world.  With 
reference  to  such  giving,  I  must  content  myself  with  a 
brief  corollary,  or  inference,  from  what  has  been  said.  It 
is,  that  when  many  claims  are  made  on  our  means  (as  at 
such  a  time  as  this),  we  ought  to  bid  them  all  heartily 
welcome.  Not,  of  course,  that  we  ought  to  give  to  all ; 
we  may  be  quite  unable  to  do  that.  But,  first,  we 
ought  to  regret  only  our  inability,  and  not  the  claims, 
which  are  but  so  many  channels  of  happiness  to  us, 
and  of  good  to  others :  and,  second,  if  we  do  only 
regret  our  inability,  and  are  in  love  with  giving,  we  shall 
find  that  we  can  give  to  many  more  objects  than  other- 
wise would  have  seemed  possible :  and,  third,  we  can 
commend  to  God  in  prayer  those  objects  to  which  we 
cannot  give  of  our  means  :  and,  fourth,  as  to  those  to 
which  we  do  contribute,  we  shall  do  it  with  hearty 
good  will, — in  the  spirit  of  those  Macedonian  Christians, 
who,  "to  their  power,  yea,  and  beyond  their  power,  were 
willing  of  themselves,  praying  Paul  with  much  entreaty 
that  he  would  receive  the  gift,  and  take  upon  him  the 
fellowship  of  the  ministering  to  the  saints."  We  shall 
"  give  a  portion  to  seven,  and  also  to  eight," — for  it  is 
more  blessed  to  give  of  our  substance  than  to  receive. 

2.  Then,  second,  there  is  the  giving  of  our  sympathy, 
help,  counsel, — sympathy  in  distress,  help  in  weakness, 


THE  GOLDEN  SAYIXG.  303 

counsel  in  perplexity.  Paul's  giving  must  have  been  voiy 
largely  of  this  kind.  How  often  must  ho  have  had  to 
say,  as  Peter  had  said  before  him,  "Silver  and  gold  liavo 
I  none,  but  sucli  as  I  have  give  I  thee  "  !  Of  course,  if  a 
brother  or  sister  bo  naked,  and  destitute  of  daily  food, 
and  we  give  not  the  things  that  are  needful  to  the  body 
— having  them  to  give — offered  sympathy  and  counsel 
were  but  a  mockery  of  the  distress.  But  liow  precious  is 
genuine  sympathy,  for  example,  either  in  addition  to  pecu- 
niar}*-  aid,  or  without  it,  when  it  is  either  not  needed,  or 
not  in  our  power  to  render  1  Take  one  instance — 
"  David  saw  that  Saul  was  come  out  to  seek  his  life  :  and 
David  was  in  the  wilderness  of  Ziph  in  a  wood.  And 
Jonathan,  Saul's  son,  arose,  and  went  to  David  into  the 
wood,  and  strengthened  his  hand  in  God.  And  he  said 
unto  him.  Fear  not :  for  the  hand  of  Saul  my  father  shall 
not  find  thee  ;  and  thou  shalt  be  king  over  Israel,  and  I 
shall  be  next  imto  thee  ;  and  that  also  Saul  m}^  fatlier 
knoweth.  And  they  two  made  a  covenant  before  the 
Lord."  But  that  was  help  and  counsel,  as  well  as 
sympathy.  0  thrice  happy,  if  with  Job  we  can  say, 
"  I  was  eyes  to  the  blind,  and  feet  was  I  to  the 
lame  " — eyes,  counsel,  to  the  blind  in  perplexity, — feet, 
help,  to  the  lame  in  weakness !  One  sort  of  counsel  we 
might  give  far  oftener  than  we  do.  I  mean  the  counsel 
spoken  of  in  those  words,  "  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say, 
Come;  and  let  him  that  heareth  say.  Come" — "Come, 
see  a  man  which  told  me  all  things  that  ever  I  did  :  is  not 
this  the  Christ?  " — "AVe  are  journeying  to  the  phico  of 
wliich  the  Lord  said,  I  will  give  it  you  :  come  witli  us, 
and  we  will  do  thee  good  ;  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  good 
concemiuo;  Israel." 

3.  Ai:d,  last  of  all,  there  is  the  giving  of  our  prayers — 
a  kind  of  giving  the  more  precious  for  two  reasons 
— first,  tliat  we  might  all  give  thus;  and  second,  that 
we    might    give   thus    to   all.      All    might    give    thus. 


304  THE  GOLDEX  SAYIXG. 

Those  who  have  no  pecuniary  means,  or  who  may  think 
that  they  have  no  sympathy,  or  counsel,  or  help,  worth  the 
giving,  might  commend  the  distressed  in  prayer  to  Him 
who  is  a  very  present  help  in  trouble.  And  we  might 
thus  give  to  all — not  to  that  very  limited  circle  only  which 
we  can  reach  with  our  means  or  our  coimsel.  In  prayer 
we  can  reach  those  removed  from  us — by  rank  and  station, 
for  instance — as  far  as  the  Queen  of  these  realms ;  or  b}^ 
distance  removed  as  far  from  us  as  the  people  in  China 
or  Australia. 

I  close  with  one  word  as  to  the  way  in  which  the 
saying  of  the  text  has  come  down  to  us.  Doubtless  it 
belongs  to  those  things  of  which  John  says  in  the  closing 
words  of  his  Gospel,  "There  are  also  many  other  things 
which  Jesus  did" — and  words  also,  of  course,  which  he 
spoke — "the  which,  if  they  should  be  written  every  one, 
I  suppose  that  even  the  world  itself  could  not  contain  tlie 
books  which  should  be  written."  Are  we  apt  to  regret  that 
so  many  precious  things  of  the  Lord  Jesus  should  have 
been  lost  to  the  Church  ?  Well ;  he  best  knew  what  and 
how  much  to  give  to  the  Church.  But  what  I  desire 
to  notice  is  this,  that  of  all  those  other  words  of  Jesus, 
unrecorded  in  the  Gospels,  onty  one  has  been  preserved 
for  us  by  the  Holy  Ghost — even  the  saying  of  our  text, 
"It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive."  Surel}^ 
it  is  well  fitted  to  enhance  the  value  of  it  in  our  eyes, 
that  in  this  respect  it  stands  quite  alone.  I  have 
already  noticed  its  Christhkeness, — how  it  might  have 
been  written  as  the  motto  of  our  Lord's  entire  life. 
What  a  confirmation  and  illustration  of  this,  that  of  all 
those  other  words  of  Jesus,  it  alone  has  been  rescued  for 
us  from  oblivion  !  The  high  value  which  Paul  set  on  it 
strikingly  appears  in  his  closing  his  memorable  address 
to  the  Ephesian  elders  with  it.  Bidding  them  fare- 
well, to  see  their  face  no  more,  he  thus  takes  his  leave 
of  them,    "  I  have  shewed  you  all  things,  how  that  so 


THE  GOLDEN  SAYIXO.  305 

labouring  ye  ought  to  support  the  weak,  and  to  rcmonil)er 
tlie  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  how  lio  said.  It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive."  Ma}^  the  Lord  write  the 
saying  in  our  hearts  ;  make  it  very  dear  to  us ;  and  grant 
tliat,  exemplifying  it  in  our  lives,  we  may  thus  make  it 
manifest  that,  in  our  speculative  and  practical  judgments 
alike,  we  do  indeed  account  it  more  blessed  to  give  tdan 
TO  receive  ! 


XXIL 

THE  DYING  SUBSTITUTE  AND  KEEPER  OF  ISRAEL. 

^^  Jesus  answered  have  told  you  that  I  am  he.  If 
therefore  ye  seek  me,  let  these  go  their  way:  that  the 
saying  might  hefidfilled  which  he  spake,  Of  them  which 
thou  gavest  me  have  I  lost  none.^^ — John  xviii.  8,  9.* 

There  is  a  more  limited  and  more  obvious  sense  of 
these  words;  and  there  is  a  larger  and  somewhat  less 
obvious  sense  of  them,  to  which  principally  it  is  that  I 
mean  to  turn  your  thoughts. 

I.  Eirst,  shortly  observe  the  more  limited  and  more 
obvious  sense  of  the  words.  "Jesus  answered,  I  have 
told  you  that  I  am  he."  Our  blessed  Lord  delivers  him- 
self up  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  to  be  bound  and  led 
away  to  death.  But,  in  the  act  of  doing  so,  he  makes  pro- 
vision for  the  safety  and  liberty  of  the  disciples  who  were 
standing  by,  "  If  therefore,"  adds  he,  "ye  seek  me,  let 
these  go  their  way."  He  snakes  provision,  I  have  said,  for 
their  liberty  and  safety.  For,  assuredly,  there  was  a  great 
deal  more  in  the  words  than  a  simple  request,  although 

*  It  is  well  worthy  of  notice,  in  connection  with  this  citation 
from  the  Intercessory  Prayer  of  the  seventeenth  chapter,  that 
the  Evangelist  quotes  the  words  of  our  Lord  thus  simply  and 
absolutely,  "Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me  have  I  lost  none." 
On  a  first  view  of  them,  as  they  lie  in  that  chapter,  it  might 
seem   as   if    they  were   less   absolute, — as   if   there  had  been   at 


THE  DYING  SUBSTmrTE  AXT)  KEEPER  OF  ISRAEL.         307 

they  take  that  quiet  form,  "  lot  these  go  their  way."  The 
officers  who  had  come  to  apprehend  the  Master,  would 
doubtless  havo  proceeded  to  apprehend  the  servants 
along  with  him.  And  any  mere  request  to  the  contrary 
could  but  have  served  to  defeat  its  own  end.  I  have  no 
doubt  that,  under  the  quiet  form  of  the  words,  **let  these 
go  their  way,"  there  went  forth  a  silent,  resistless  energy, 
— an  exercise  of  the  same  glorious  power  which  had  just 
before  made  the  captors  recoil,  and  fall  to  the  ground,  on 
the  simple  utterance  of  that  word,   "I  am  he."     Jesus,  I 

least  one  exception  to  the  safe  keeping  of  those  given  to  Christ  by 
the  Father — "Those,"  he  says,  "that  thou  gavest  me  I  have 
kept,  and  none  of  them  is  lost,  but  the  son  of  perdition  ;  that  the 
scripture  might  be  fulfilled."  It  is  deeply  interesting  and  import- 
ant to  iind,  however,  that  this  strange,  painful,  and  surely  very 
improbable,  idea,  has  no  ground  in  the  words  of  the  blessed  Inter- 
cessor, when  more  closely  looked  at, — that  the  seeming  exception 
is  not  one  in  reality,  but  simply  a  deep  contrast,  as  if  it  had  been 
said,  '  Those  that  thou  gavest  me  I  have  kept,  and  none  of  them  is 
lost.  But  the  son  of  perdition,  who  seemed  to  be  of  them,  is  lost, 
that  the  scripture  might  be  fulfilled.'  Repeatedly  the  il  f^h  {"  none 
of  them  is  lost,  but  the  son  of  perdition  ")  is  used  by  our  Lord  in  this 
purely  adversative  sense.  Thus,  in  the  fourth  of  Luke,  verses  25- 
L'7,  he  says,  "I  tell  you  of  a  truth,  many  w  idows  were  in  Israel  in 
the  days  of  Elias.  .  .  .  But  unto  none  of  them  was  Elias  sent,  save 
(si  f^n)  unto  Sarepta,  a  city  of  Sidon,  unto  a  woman  that  was  a 
widow.  And  many  lepers  were  in  Israel  in  the  time  of  Eliscus  the 
prophet ;  and  none  of  them  was  cleansed,  saving  {u  /u.^)  Naaman  the 
Syrian."  Of  course  this  is  not  an  exception,  but  a  simple  contrast, 
as  if  it  had  been  said,  '  None  of  the  lepers  in  Israel  were  cleansed;  but 
Xaaman  the  Syrian  was  cleansed. '  So  here,  '  Those  that  thou  gavest 
me  I  have  kept,  and  none  of  them  is  lost ;  but  the  son  of  perdition 
is  lost.'  I  only  add,  that  this  interpretation  of  the  words — shewn 
thus  to  be  thoroughly  admissible — is  proved  to  be  the  right  one 
by  John's  inspired  citation  of  them  thus  in  my  text,  "Jesus 
answered,  I  have  told  you  that  I  am  he.  If  therefore  ye  seek 
me,  let  these  go  their  way  :  that  the  saying  might  be  fulfilled 
which  he  spake,  Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me  have  I  lost  i207ie." 
The  reader  will  please  now  to  turn  back  to  the  opening  of  the 
discourse  in  the  previous  page. 


308  THE  DYING  SUBSTITUTE  AND  KEEPER  OF  ISRAEL. 

say,  delivers  Limself  up,  freely  and  voluntarily,  into  tlie 
hands  of  his  enemies,  but  makes  provision,  in  doing  so, 
for  the  safety  and  liberty  of  his  disciples. 

Only,  does  it  not  seem  strange  that  in  the  ninth  verse, 
the  Evangelist  should  trace  up  this  act  of  our  Lord, 
however  disinterested  and  kind  on  his  part,  to  his  great 
saying  in  the  seventeenth  chapter,  as  furnishing  the  ex- 
planation of  it,  "Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me  have  I 
lost  none — let  these  go  their  way ;  that  the  saying  might 
be  fulfilled  which  he  spake.  Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me 
have  I  lost  none  "  ?  For,  that  saying  of  the  Intercessory 
Prayer,  beyond  all  doubt,  refers  to  no  mere  preservation 
of  believers  from  outward  trials,  such  as  loss  of  personal 
liberty,  but  to  their  secure  preservation  in  faith  and  holi- 
ness to  the  end ;  and  this  last  preservation,  so  far  from 
being  connected  inseparably  with  immunity  from  temporal 
afhictions,  is  ofttimes  more  effectually  secured  by  means 
of  them — even  as  we  know  that  these  disciples,  not  very 
long  after  this  time,  "  rejoiced  to  be  counted  worthy  to 
suffer  shame  for  Christ's  name,"  and  were  led  away, 
some  to  prison,  and  others  to  death,  for  his  sake.  True. 
But  you  recollect  those  words,  *'  God  is  faithful,  who  will 
not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above  that  ye  are  able." 
Jesus  knew  that  although  these  disciples  should  by  and 
by  be  quite  able  and  ready  to  meet  every  danger,  and  to 
suffer  death  itself,  for  his  name,  their  faith  was  not  equal 
to  this  now.  And  therefore  does  he  consult  for  their  ever- 
lasting welfare, — consult,  with  equal  wisdom  and  loving- 
kindness,  not  for  their  temporal  ease,  but  for  their  everlast- 
ing salvation,  when  in  delivering  up  himself,  he  makes 
provision  for  their  liberty  and  safety,  saying,  "  I  have  told 
you  that  I  am  he ;  if  therefore  ye  seek  me,  let  these  go 
their  way:  that  the  saying  might  be  fulfilled  which  he 
spake,  Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me  have  I  lost  none." 
So  much  for  the  more  limited  and  more  obvious  sense  of 
these  words. 


THE  DYING  SUBSTITUTE  AND  KEEPER  OF  ISRAEL.         309 

II.  But,  wliilo  we  so  far  account  tlius  for  tlio  Evan- 
gelist's citation  in  the  ninth  verse, — so  far  account  for 
his  tracing  up  the  words  of  Jesus  in  the  eighth  verse,  to 
his  blessed  words  of  intercession  recalled  to  view  in  the 
ninth,  I  am  persuaded  tliat  the  citation  points  to  a  larger 
and  wider  view  of  our  wliole  text,  which  alone  fully  and 
sufFiciently  explains  the  inspired  reference  to  the  words 
of  the  seventeenth  chapter.  I  believe  that,  when  Jesus 
delivers  himself  up  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  but 
makes  provision,  in  the  act  of  doing  so,  for  the  safety  and 
liberty  of  his  disciples,  he  designed  that  his  Church  in  every 
age  should  see  there,  as  in  a  glass,  his  most  freely  delivering 
himself  up  into  the  hands  of  his  Father's  justice,  as  the 
Saviour,  Substitute,  Surety,  of  his  people, — delivering 
himself  up  voluntarily  into  the  hands  of  the  Divine 
justice,  and  so  to  the  hatred  and  murderous  rage  of  his 
enemies  on  earth ;  but  only  on  condition,  as  it  were,  and 
in  order  to  the  securing,  of  the  everlasting  release  and 
salvation  of  all  who  were  given  to  him  by  the  Father  in 
the  eternal  covenant  of  grace,  '*  Jesus  answered,  I  have 
told  3'ou  that  I  am  he.  If  therefore  je  seek  me,  let  tliese 
go  their  way ;  that  the  saj^ing  might  be  fulfilled  which  he 
spake,  Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me  have  I  lost  none." 
Thus  I  think  that  the  last  sufferings  and  death  of  our 
Lord  Jesus,*  are  presented  to  us  here  under  three  dis- 
tinct aspects  or  characters  of  them — first,  as  they  were 
entirely  Voluntary  ;  second,  as  they  were  Vicarious, 
or  Substitutionary  ;  and  third,  amid  all  their  seeming 
weakness,  as  they  were  Royal,  Kingly. 

1.  First,  behold  the  gloriously  voluntary  character  of 
the  Saviour's  death.  In  giving  out  the  text,  I  read  with 
you  the  opening  verses  of  the  chapter ;  and  I  am  anxious 
at  this  place  to  arrest  your  attention  on  them  for  a 
moment — first  recalling,  however,  such  words  of  previous 
chapters  as  those,  "  He  would  not  walk  in  Jewi-y,  because 
*  The  discourse  was  preached  ou  a  Conuuumon  Sabbath. 


310        THE  DYING  SUBSTITUTE  A^D  KEEPER  OF  ISRAEL. 

the  Jews  sought  to  kill  him" — ''  He  escaped  out  of  their 
hands,  and  went  away  again  beyond  Jordan  " — compared 
with  such  other  words  as,  "  They  sought  to  take  him ; 
but  no  man  laid  hands  on  him,  because  Ms  hour  was  not 
yet  come.^^  But  now  at  length  it  had  come,  as  he  spake 
at  the  opening  of  that  wondrous  prayer,  ''Father,  the 
hour  is  come;  glorify  thy  Son,  that  thy  Son  also  may 
glorify  thee."  And  now,  accordingly,  see  what  an  entire 
change  meets  us  at  the  beginning  of  this  eighteenth 
chapter,  "When  Jesus  had  spoken  these  words,  he  went 
forth  with  his  disciples  over  the  brook  Cedron,  where 
was  a  garden,  into  which  he  entered,  and  his  disciples. 
And  Judas  also,  which  betrayed  him,  knew  the  place ;  for 
Jesus  ofttimes  resorted  thither  with  his  disciples."  I  stay 
not  to  dwell  on  the  touching  simplicity  with  which  John 
conveys  to  every  reader  here  the  baseness  of  the  traitor, 
"Judas  also,  which  betrayed  him,  knew  the  place;  for 
Jesus  ofttimes  resorted  thither  with  his  disciples,"  But 
see  how  our  blessed  Lord,  instead  of  shunning  that  place  of 
his  frequent  resort — so  well  known  to  Judas — deliberately 
enters  the  garden  where  he  knew  the  traitor  would  reckon 
on  finding  him.  "  Judas  then,  having  received  a  band 
of  men  and  officers  from  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees, 
Cometh  thither  with  lanterns,  and  torches,  and  weapons." 
Ah,  very  superfluous  "lanterns  and  torches,"  to  search 
the  recesses  of  Gethsemanel  Let  the  first  Adam  hide 
himself,  if  he  will,  among  the  trees  of  the  garden.  The 
second  knows  no  fears ;  and  now  that  his  hour  is  come, 
is  holily  seeking  his  enemies,  quite  as  much  as  they  are 
unholily  in  search  of  Him,  "Jesus  therefore,  knowing  all 
things  that  should  come  upon  him,  went  forth,  and  said 
unto  them.  Whom  seek  ye?"  Truly  a  new  kind  of 
criminal  this,  who  accosts  the  officers  in  pursuit  of  him, 
"Whom  seek  ye  ?  They  answered  him,  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
Jesus  saith  unto  them,  I  am  he.  And  Judas  also,  which 
betrayed  him,   stood  with  them.     As   soon  then  as  he 


THE  DYING  SUBSTITUTE  AND  KEEPER  OF  ISRAEL.         311 

liad  said  unto  them,  I  am  ho,  thoy  went  backward, 
and  fell  to  the  ground."  DouLtless,  one  leading  design 
of  the  putting  forth  thus  of  his  resistless  power,  was 
to  make  the  entirely  volimtanj  character  of  his  death  the 
more  apparent.  How  impotent,  but  for  his  good  pleasure 
to  die,  had  been  all  their  rage  against  him,  "  As  soon 
as  he  had  said  imto  them,  I  am  he,  they  went  backward, 
and  fell  to  the  ground"  ! 

Of  course,  however,  the  Lord  had  no  intention  at  all 
to  turn  back  the  course  which  events  had  now  at  length 
taken — ^'Tlien  asked  he  them  again,  Whom  seek  ye? 
And  they  said,  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Jesus  answered, 
I  have  told  you  that  I  am  he.  If  therefore  ye  seek 
me,  let  these  go  their  way," — *'  If  ye  seek  me,"  here 
I  am  ;  only  "  let  these  go  their  way."  "What  a  com- 
ment the  entire  scene  on  those  previous  words  of  Jesus, 
"No  man  taketh  my  life  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down 
of  myself:"  and  on  those  words,  "The  prince  of  this 
world  Cometh,  and  hath  notliing  in  me.  But  that  tlie 
world  may  know  that  I  love  the  Eatlier;  and  as  tlie 
Father  gave  me  commandment,  even  so  I  do.  Arise,  let 
us  go  hence  :"  and  on  the  words  we  sang  a  little  ago, 
"  Lo,  I  come  ;  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is  written  of 
me,  I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  0  my  God :"  and  on  those 
words,  "I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with;  and 
how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished"!  True, 
Jesus  had  a  little  before  fallen  on  his  face,  and  three 
times  prayed,  "  0  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let 
this  cup  pass  from  me "  !  But  that  tells  only  the 
unutterableness  of  his  soul-sorrows.  It  touches  not  the 
perfect  voluntariness  of  tliem.  You  remember  how, 
when  Peter  said  once  to  liim,  "Be  that  far  from  thee, 
Lord" — to  die  a  malefactur's  accursed  deatli — he  an- 
swered him,  "Get  thee  behind  me,  k^atan ;  thou  art  an 
oflence  unto  me;  for  thou  savourest  not  the  things 
that  be  of  God,  but  those  that  be  of  men."     "  The  cup," 


312        THE  DYING  SUBSTITUTE  AND  KEEPER  OE  ISEAEL. 

said  he  to  the  same  Peter  afterwards,  "  which  my  Father 
hath  given  me,  shall  I  not  drink  it?"  "He  took  the 
cup,  and  gave  tJiajihs,  saying.  This  cup  is  my  blood  of  the 
new  covenant,  shed  for  the  remission  of  the  sins  of  many." 
Even  so  now,  does  he  go  forth  to  meet  his  enemies, 
delivering  himself  freely  up  into  their  hands,  ''  Jesus 
answered,  I  have  told  you  that  I  am  he.  If  therefore 
ye  seek  me,  let  these  go  their  way." 

2.  But  this  runs  into  the  second  great  aspect  here  of 
our  Lord's  sufferings  and  death,  the  Vicarious,  or  Suhstitu- 
tionary,  character  of  them,  "Jesus  answered,  I  have  told 
you  that  I  am  he.  If  therefore  ye  seek  me,  let  these  go 
their  way  :  that  the  saying  might  be  fulfilled  which  he 
spake.  Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me  have  I  lost  none  " 
— One  for  all, — one  in  the  room  of  many, — "if  ye  seek 
me,  let  these  go  their  way."  Not,  certainly,  that  I 
should  think  of  proving  the  substitution  of  Christ'  against 
an  opponent,  from  this  passage.  I  should  not  expect  any 
one  to  see  the  doctrine  here,  who  had  not  before  found 
it  in  many  a  plainer  statement  of  it  in  Scripture.  In 
reasoning  with  a  Socinian,  for  example,  it  were  necessary 
to  point  to  sftch  words  as  the  following — "  He  hath 
made  him  who  knew  no  sin  to  be  sin  for  us,  that 
we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him" 
— "  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the 
law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us" — "  The  Lord  hath 
laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all  " — "  Christ  was  once 
offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many" — "His  ownself  bare 
our  sins  in  his  body  on  the  tree" — "The  Son  of  man 
is  come  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many" — "This 
is  my  blood  of  the  new  covenant,  shed  for  the  remis- 
sion of  the  sins  of  many  " — and  so  on.  In  the  text, 
we  have  no  more  than  a  precious  illustrative  light 
thrown  back,  as  it  were  in  passing, — reflected,  as  from 
a  kind  of  mirror, — on  this  grand  central  truth.  As  I 
said  a  little  ago,  when  Jesus  delivers  himself  up  to  his 


THE  DYING  SUBSTITUTE  AND  KEEPER  OF  ISRAEL.         0 1  3 

enemies,  but,  in  the  act  of  doing  so,  makes  provision 
for  the  safety  of  his  disciples, — when  he  saj's,  "If  ye 
seek  me,  let  these  go  their  way," — I  believe  that  ho 
intended  his  Church  in  every  age  to  see  there,  as  in  a 
glass,  nothing  less  than  his  delivering  up  of  himself  most 
freely  into  the  hands  of  his  Father's  justice,  and  so  to  the 
rago  and  injustice  of  men ;  but  only  on  condition,  and  in 
order  to  tlio  securing,  of  the  everlasting  release  and  salva- 
tion of  all  his  covenant  people,  "  If  ye  seek  me,  let  these 
go  their  way :  that  the  saying  might  be  fulfdled  which 
he  spake,  Of  them  wliich  thou  gavest  me  have  I  lost 
none."  Oh,  it  is  as  if,  when  he  said  to  tlie  officers,  '*  if  ye 
seek  me,  let  these  go  their  way,"  he  had  said  to  his  Father 
at  tlie  same  moment — all  unheard  by  this  dead  world — 
Here  am  I,  0  my  Father  !  Let  me  be  bound ;  but  let  that 
innumerable  multitude  be  loosed, — freed  from  the  bonds 
of  death  and  of  the  curse  for  ever  !  Let  all  shame  bo 
cast  on  me,  that  none  of  them  may  *' rise  to  shame  and 
everlasting  contempt "  !  Let  me  be  spit  upon,  mocked, 
crowned  with  thorns,  that  they  may  be  for  ever  glorified ! 
Let  tliy  sword  awake  against  the  Shepherd,  and  let  thy 
hand  be  "  turned  "  in  love  *'  upon  the  little  ones  " !  Let 
me  be  condemned  before  the  tribunal  of  Pilate,  that  they 
may  not  be  condemned  at  thy  tribunal  eternally  !  Let 
me  die,  that  they  may  live,  and  ''  drink  of  the  river  of 
thy  pleasures,"  for  evermore  !  Take  me,  0  Father,  and 
"  let  these  go  their  way  "  ! 

3.  But  now  I  pass  to  tlie  third  aspect  of  the  suf- 
ferings and  death  of  Jesus — what  I  called  the  Roijalj 
Kiufjly,  cliaracter  of  them.  I  mean,  that  they  were  not 
tlio  sufferings  and  death  of  a  Substitute  only.  High 
Priest,  Lamb,  but  of  a  glorious  King  also,  having 
authority  and  power  to  save  his  people  to  the  uttermost 
This  also  you  will  find  in  tlie  text,  if  you  recall  that 
first  and  more  limited  view  of  the  words,  which  has 
respect   to  our   Lord's   providing  for   the   safety  of  the 


314        THE  DYING  SUBSTITUTE  AND  KEEPER  OF  ISRAEL. 

disciples,  in  tlie  act  of  delivering  himself  up  into 
the  hands  of  his  enemies.  For,  when  he  said,  *'Let 
these  go  their  way,"  not  preferring  a  simple  request, 
but,  as  I  said,  under  the  quiet  form  of  one,  putting 
forth  a  silent,  resistless  energy  to  render  it  effectual, 
what  did  he  but  exercise  a  glorious  Providence,  securing 
a  temporal  benefit  for  these  men,  in  order  to  their 
certain  everlasting  welfare  and  salvation,  *'  Let  these 
go  their  way  ;  that  the  saying  might  be  fulfilled  which 
he  spake,  Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me  have  I  lost 
none  "  ?  They  were  not  equal  at  this  time,  as  he 
knew,  to  bear  the  trial  of  imj)risonment,  and  possible 
death,  for  his  name.  He  would  not  "  suffer  them  to 
be  tempted  above  that  they  were  able."  And  therefore, 
secretly,  yet  effectually,  did  he  so  sway  the  minds  of  those 
enemies,  and  order  the  matter  of  the  liberty  of  his  friends, 
as  to  exemplify  and  fulfil,  the  Evangelist  tells  us,  that  great 
word,  "  Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me  have  I  lost  none." 

Have  we  not  here,  as  in  one  specimen,  a  glimpse 
of  that  whole  Mediatorial,  Kingly  government  of  the 
world  with  which  our  Lord  Jesus  is  invested  by  the 
Father,  to  the  end  of  securing  the  holy,  eternal  blessed- 
ness and  glory  of  the  whole  ransomed  Church — as  he 
spake  at  the  opening  of  the  Intercessory  Prayer,  "Thou 
hast  given  him  power  over  all  flesh,  that  he  should  give 
eternal  life  to  as  many  as  thou  hast  given  him  "  ?  In  a 
specimen,  we  have  it,  I  have  said ;  ay,  and  not  only 
the  general  fact  of  the  government,  but  the  glorious 
character  of  it  also.  Por,  be  it  observed  that  this  act  of 
our  Lord's  providence, — this  silent  exercise  of  his  Kingly 
authority,  "Let  these  go  their  way," — was  characterized 
at  once  by  an  inefi'able  tenderness,  and  a  consummate 
wisdom,  and  a  resistless  majesty. 

(1.)  It  was  characterized  by  an  inefi'able  tenderness.  At 
the  very  moment  when,  about  to  be  seized  by  his  enemies, 
he  might  have  seemed  likely  to  think  of  himself,  and  to 


THE  DYING  SUBSTITUTE  AND  KEETEIl  OF  ISRAEL.  315 

forget  liis  disciples,  he  forgets  himself,  and  thinks  only 
of  them.  Behold,  believers,  ^vhat  a  heart  of  matchless 
tenderness  it  is  that  is  set  over  the  world  and  its  allairs 
for  your  safety, — for  the  everlasting  welfare  and  salvation 
of  the  whole  ransomed  Church ! 

(2.)  But  the  act  was  characterized  as  much  by  con- 
summate wisdom,  as  by  ineffable  tenderness — "  Lut  those 
go  their  way."  Jesus  unerringly  judged  what  the 
faith  of  his  disciples,  at  this  particular  time,  was  able  to 
bear.  He  would  not  "  break  the  bruised  reed,  nor  quench 
the  smoking  llax."  He  would  not  suffer  the  Adversary  to 
expose  those  men  to  a  trial  to  which  their  knowledge  and 
faith  were  as  3-et  unequal,  whom  afterwards  he  left  to  bo 
dragged  before  kings  and  rulers,  and  led  away,  many 
of  them,  to  bloody  deaths,  for  his  sake,  ''Let  these  go 
their  way." 

(3.)  And  yet  again,  the  Kingly  government  of  Christ 
is  seen,  in  this  example  of  it,  characterized  by  a  resistless 
majesty f  equal  to  its  wisdom  and  tenderness,  "Let  these 
go  their  way."  It  was  the  form  of  a  request ;  it  was 
the  reality  of  a  command.  It  was,  as  I  said,  the  same 
resistless  energy  which  had  made  the  officers  recoil  and 
fall  to  the  ground,  on  the  utterance  of  that  word,  "  I  am 
he  "  !  Dear  brethren,  if  such  the  majesty  of  Christ's 
government  in  that  hour  of  his  deepest  seeming  weak- 
ness, how  tranquilly  may  we  not  trust  ourselves  in  his 
hands,  now  that  "he  hath  ascended  on  high,  leading 
captivity  captive," — now  that  his  voice  is  heard  from  the 
throne,  as  he  lays  his  right  hand  on  the  trembling  dis- 
ciple, saying,  *'  Fear  not ;  I  am  the  first  and  the  last, 
and  the  living  One ;  and  I  was  dead ;  and,  behold,  I 
am  alive  for  evermore.  Amen  ;  and  have  the  keys  of  hell 
and  of  death?" 

Three  words  of  application,  suggested  by  the  three, 
aspects  or  characters  of  Christ's  suflerings  and  death — 
the  Voluntary,  the  Vicarious,  the  Kingly. 


3  1  6         THE  DYIXG  SUBSTITUTE  AND  KEEPER  OF  ISRAEL. 

First,  were  they  gloriously  Voluntary  sufferings  ?  And 
shall  we  not  exclaim,  "  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth 
us," — constraineth  us  to  a  most  free  and  unreserved 
surrender  of  ourselves  to  Him  ? — 

**  Lord,  we  return  tliee  what  we  can  ! 
Our  hearts  shall  sound  abroad, 
Salvation  to  the  dying  man, 
And  to  the  rising  God  ! 

And  while  thy  bleeding  glories  here 

Engage  our  wondering  eyes, 
We  leai'n  our  lighter  cross  to  bear, 

And  hasten  to  the  skies. " 

Again,  were  they  Vicarious  sufferings?  How  deeply 
humbling,  yet  confirming  also  and  strengthening !  Deeply 
humbling.  When  you  behold  the  Surety  seized,  and  led 
away  to  death,  what  was  it  but  that  you,  believers,  were 
ready  to  be  seized,  and  dragged  to  judgment,  to  hell, 
when  Jesus  interposed  himself,  and  said,  Take  Me,  and 
"  let  these  go  their  way  "  !  But  how  confirming  also  and 
strengthening !  What  a  rock  beneath  your  feet  is  that, 
"  Take  Me,  0  Father,  and  let  these  go  their  way" — one 
in  the  room  of  all — "  there  is  no  condemnation  to  them 
which  are  in  Christ  Jesus  " — "  who  shall  lay  anything 
to  the  charge  of  God's  elect  ?     It  is  Christ  that  died  "  ! 

Finally,  as  to  the  Kingly  character, — that  most  ten- 
der and  wise  and  mighty  government  which  is  on  the 
shoulder  of  Christ, — let  me  mention  a  word  which  an 
experienced  Cliristian  lady  once  addressed  to  a  much 
tried  friend,  "Things"  she  said,  "will  never  be  right 
with  you,  till  you  have  learned  to  crown  Christ  king 
of  Providence,  as  well  as  king  of  Grrace."  King  of  Provi- 
dence, ruling  bonds,  liberty,  sickness,  health,  casualties, 
death — "If  ye  seek  me,  let  these  go  their  way."  King 
of  Grace,   "that  the  saying  might  be  fulfilled  which  he 


THE  DYING  SUBSTITUTE  AND  KEEPER  OF  ISRAEL.  3 1  7 

ppako,  Of  them  \\]iie'h  thou  p;avcst  mo,  liavo  I  lost  nono." 
AVliat  an  anchor  in  storms  and  tempests,  "Thou  liast  given 
him  power  over  all  flesh,  that  he  should  give  eternal  life  to 
as  many  as  thou  hast  given  him  " — *'  It  is  Christ  that  died, 
yea,  rather,  tliat  is  risen  again,  who  is  even  at  the  right 
hand  of  God" — "Angels  and  authorities,  and  powers 
being  made  subject  unto  him  "  ! 

0  ye  that  are  out  of  Christ  this  day,  wh}^  wh}-,  are  ye 
out  of  him  ?  No  doubt  there  is  an  "  election  of  grace,"  as 
the  text  intimates.  But  no  believer  ever  entered  into 
Christ  by  the  door  of  his  election,  but  all  by  that  door 
only  wliich  is  equally  open  to  you — the  unlimited  offers 
of  the  gospel,  as  Jesus  spake,  "  All  that  the  Fatlier  giveth 
me  shall  come  to  me  ;  and  him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in 
no  wise  cast  out."  But  if  you  shall  still  "  neglect  so 
great  salvation,"  how  can  you  escape  ?  Why,  the  very 
substitution  of  Christ  tells,  in  some  respects  above  all 
things  else,  that  you  cannot.  His  words,  "  0  my  Father, 
if  this  cup  may  not  pass  away  from  me,  except  I 
drink  it,  thy  will  be  done,"  must  seal  your  ruin.  "  It  is 
a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God." 
"  Thou  shalt  break  them  with  a  rod  of  iron,  thou  shalt 
dash  them  in  i)ieces  like  a  potter's  vessel."  But  mean- 
while, "  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  sa}'-.  Come.  And  lot 
him  tliat  heareth  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst 
come  :  and  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely." 


XXIII. 

THE  CROWNING  PETITION  OF  THE  INTERCESSORY 
PRAYER. 

"  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given 
me  he  with  me  where  I  am  ;  that  they  may  behold  my 
glory. " — John  xvii.  24. 

It  is  the  last,  and  the  crowning,  petition  of  aU.  If  you 
were  to  compare  this  wondrous  chapter  of  intercession  to 
some  majestic  edifice,  temple,  the  text  would  form  the 
top-stone  of  it.  The  entire  series  of  intercessions — each  of 
them  more  precious,  unspeakably,  than  thousands  of  gold 
and  silver — reaches  its  climax  in  this  one,  of  pre-eminent 
grace  and  grandeur,  "Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom 
thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am  ;  that  they  may 
behold  my  glory."  Let  us  fix  our  thoughts  for  a  little  on 
these  things  in  it: — first,  the  parties  for  whom  the  petition 
is  offered  ;  second,  the  very  peculiar  style  and  manner  of 
it ;  third,  the  prayer  itself  in  the  matter  of  it.  And  may 
the  glorious  Intercessor  himself,  our  *'  Advocate  with 
the  rather,"  now  within  the  veil,  vouchsafe  his  own 
presence  with  us  in  our  meditations ! 

I.  First,  observe  the  parties  in  whose  behalf  the  prayer 
of  the  text  is  offered.  Says  Jesus,  ''  I  wdll  that  they  also 
whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am." 
They  wJwm  tJiou  hast  given  me — truly  a  vast,  innumerable, 
company  that,  beloved  !  If  you  look  at  this  great 
chapter  with  a  little  care,  you  will  find  that  this  expres- 


THE  CKOWNIXG  PETITION .  319 

sion,  **tlioy  whom  thou  liast  g^iven  mo,"  occurs  in  sub- 
stance eight  (lilibront  times  in  the  course  of  it ;  and 
you  Avill  further  find  that  it  is  used  by  our  Lord  partly 
in  a  larger,  and  partly  in  a  narrower  and  more  specific, 
manner.  For  the  most  part  his  reference  in  it — more 
immediately  at  least — is  to  the  eleven  disciples  who  were 
with  him  in  the  guest-chamber  after  Judas  had  gone  out. 
In  two  leading  instances,  however,  he  uses  it  very  much 
more  largely — first,  at  the  opening  of  the  whole  interces- 
sion, in  the  second  verse  of  the  chapter,  "  As  thou  hast 
given  him  power  over  all  flesh,  that  he  should  give 
eternal  life  to  as  many  as  thou  hast  given  him,"  where 
the  manifest  reference  is  to  the  entire  elect  Church, — 
the  whole  innumerable  multitude  who  were  given  to 
Christ  by  the  Father,  in  the  everlasting  covenant,  before 
the  world  was,*  ''  Father,"  says  he,  "  the  hour  is  come; 
glorify  thy  Son,  that  thy  Son  also  may  glorify  thee  : 
as  thou  hast  given  him  power  over  all  flesh,  that  he 
should  give  eternal  life  to  as  many  as  thou  hast  given 
him:  "  and  now,  again,  at  the  close  of  the  intercession, 
in  the  prayer  of  our  text,  ''Father,  I  will  that  they 
also  whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am ; 
that  they  may  behold  my  glory."  Let  it  be  noted  that, 
at  verse  sixth,  Jesus  had  begun  to  narrow,  as  it  were, 
the  range,  the  sweep  of  the  expression,  saying,  ''  I  have 
manifested  thy  name  imto  the  men  which  thou  gavest 
me  out  of  the  world :  thine  they  were,  and  thou  gavest 
them  me ;  and  they  have  kept  thy  word."  Then,  after 
continuing  the  more  specific  use  and  reference  down,  to 
the  nineteenth  verse,  inclusive,  he  returns  to  where  he 
began,  again  enlarging  the  circle,  the  range,  saying  in 
tlie  all-precious  words  of  the  twentieth  verse,   "  Neither 

*  The  reader  will  find  the  doctrine  of  this  covenant  examined 
with  some  care  in  the  discourse  (p.  282)  on  Titus  i.  2,  "In  hope  of 
eternal  life,  which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised  before  the  world 
Letran." 


320  THE  CROWNING  PETITION 

pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  tliem  also  whicli  shall 
believe  on  me  through  their  word  ;  that  they  all  may  be 
one  ;  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they 
also  may  be  one  in  us."  Thus  I  think  it  is  very  apparent 
that,  as  the  whole  of  the  petitions  were,  really  and  in 
effect,  for  all  believers, — not  for  the  eleven  only,  but  for 
believers  everywhere  and  in  every  age, — so  now,  in  this 
last  petition  of  all,  the  parties  are  the  entire  unnumbered 
multitude  of  the  elect,  believing,  children  of  God,  ' 'Father, 
I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me 
where  I  am ;  that  they  may  behold  my  glory." 

I  have  said  the  elect ,  helieving^  children  of  God.  For 
these  two  descriptions — elect,  or  given  to  Christ  by  the 
Father,  and,  they  who  believe  on  Jesus — meet  in  a  great 
centre, — are,  in  fact,  one  and  the  same  as  to  extent  and 
comprehension.  That  is  to  say,  none  do  truly  believe  on 
Christ  who  were  not  given  to  him  from  everlasting  by  the 
Father;  and,  conversely,  all  who  were  so  given  to  him 
do,  sooner  or  later,  believe  on  his  name.  He  uses  both 
descriptions,  as  you  perceive,  in  this  blessed  chaj)ter — the 
one  over  and  over  again,  "those  whom  thou  hast  given 
me;"  the  other  in  that  twentieth  verse,  "them  who 
shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word."  The  one, 
beloved,  belongs  to  a  secret  purpose  of  the  Divine  mind, 
which  we  can  by  no  means  penetrate  directly,  to  ascertain 
our  interest  in  it, — whether  our  names  were  from  ever- 
lasting "  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life."  The  other 
belongs  to  a  visible  effect  arising  out  of  the  purpose  in 
time,  which  we  may  know,  and  by  the  knowledge  of 
which  we  may  also  know  our  interest  in  the  eternal  pur- 
pose of  grace.  0  yes,  would  you  find  if  you  are  among 
the  parties  in  the  prayer  of  our  text, — among  those  given 
to.  Christ  by  the  Father  before  the  world  was  ?  You 
cannot  possibly  discover  it  by  any  scrutinizing  of  that 
description  of  them  taken  by  itself.  But  you  may  know 
it  from  the  other  description,  of  the  twentieth  verse,  "I 


OF  THE  INTERCESSORY  TEAYER.  321 

pray  for  them  wlio  sliall  boliovo  on  mo  llirougli  their 
word."  Ilavo  you,  in  very  deed,  believed  on  the  Son  of 
God?  Have  you,  by  tlio  Holy  Ghost,  come  to  Jesus? 
Ilavo  you  g-iven  your  souls  into  his  hand  for  ever,  to  bo 
"  washed,  and  sanctified,  and  justified  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God"  ?  And  are 
you  giving  evidence  of  it,  more  or  less,  in  a  holy,  humble, 
heavenly  life  ?  Then  are  you  among  the  parties  in  the 
prayer  of  the  text — and,  indeed,  in  all  the  intercessions 
of  the  chapter  together — ''Father,  I  will  that  they  also 
whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am  ;  that 
tliey  may  behold  ni}^  glory." 

One  other  remark  only  on  the  parties,  *'  they  whom 
thou  hast  given  me."  Our  Lord  passes  here,  as  you 
see,  by  a  single  stop  or  bound,  from  the  eternal  pur- 
pose to  the  final  glory,  saying,  ''I  will  tliat  they  whom 
thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am."  Assuredly, 
however,  he  assumes  and  presupposes  all  the  great  inter- 
mediate steps, — the  purchase  with  his  blood,  the  calling 
effectually,  the  ''manifesting  of  the  Father's  name," 
the  "  keeping,"  the  "  sanctifj'ing."  But  he  prefers 
to  connect  the  glory  at  once  with  the  everlasting  purpose, 
— the  giving  to  him  by  the  Father, — because  it  lay 
at  the  root  of  all,  secured  all,  formed  tlie  fundamental 
ground  of  the  final  heavenly  glory — as  he  probably 
intended  to  intimate  in  the  closing  words  of  the  verse 
(though  I  do  not  enter  into  these),  "  For  thou  lovedst  me 
— I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with 
me  where  I  am ;  that  they  may  behold  my  glory,  which 
thou  hast  given  me ;  for  thou  lovedst  me,"  and  them  in 
me,  as  if  he  had  said,  and  for  my  sake,  "  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world."  So  much,  then,  for  the  parties 
in  whose  behalf  the  prayer  of  the  text  is  offered — *'  They 
whom  thou  hast  given  me." 

II.  Secondly,  observe  the  very  peculiar  style  and  manner 

X 


322  THE  CKOWNIKG  PETITIOI^ 

of  the  prayer,  "  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou 
hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am."  '•'•  I  wiW''  ! 
Strange,  very  unwonted,  manner  of  prayer  that,  *'l 
will  "  !  -''  Do  you  remember  those  words  of  our  Lord  in 
the  fourteenth  chapter,  "  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep 
my  words ;  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will 
come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him"? — ^^ we,^ 
— God  and  I  !  What  mere  creature  could,  without 
blasphemy,  approach  such  a  manner  of  language,  ''  we 
Avill  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him"? 
And  so,  in  the  text,  I  think  that  we  have  a  style  of 
language  which  only  He  could  use,  who,  indeed,  was  the 
servant  of  the  Father  for  our  salvation, — our  "  Advocate 
with  the  Father," — but  essentially  and  eternally  was  the 
Father's  equal, — the  "fellow  of  the  Lord  of  hosts," — 
"  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given 
me  be  with  me  where  I  am ;  that  they  may  behold  my 
glory."  At  the  same  time,  I  doubt  not  that  the  more 
immediate  ground  on  which  this  unwonted  ''I  will" 
proceeds,  is  that  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  with  its 
conditions  all  fulfilled  by  the  Mediator.  The  Lord  Jesus, 
in  other  words,  laj's  claim  in  this  wondrous  chapter 
— reverentially,  indeed,  for  it  belongs  to  the  Advocate 
to  ashj — to  sue  out  at  the  hand  of  the  Judge, — even  the 
things  to  which  he  has  an  unquestioned  right  in  law — 
lays  claim,  at  the  hand  of  the  Father,  to  that  only 
which  He  had  covenanted  expressly  to  him  on  deter- 
minate conditions,  as  it  is  written,  "When  thou  shalt 
make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  he  shall  see  his  seed 
— He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  shall 
be  satisfied — By  his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous  ser- 
vant justify  many ;    for  he  shall   bear  their  iniquities." 

*  Attempts  have  been  made  to  give  a  feebler  sense  to  the  verb. 
But  it  is  clear  that  the  "  i'lXu,^''  either,  on  the  one  hand,  must  signify 
bare  willingness  or  tcish  (which  is  out  of  the  question  here),  or,  on 
the  other  hand,  must  bear  the  sense  of  the  emphatic,  "  I  will." 


OF  THE   INTERCESSORY  PRAYER.  323 

"Father,  I  will,"  says  lio,  "that  they  also  wliom  thou 
hast  given  me  be  \Yith  me  where  I  am."  True,  the 
conditions  of  the  covenant  liad  not  yet, — on  this  night, 
— been  in  their  whole  extent  actually  fulfilled.  There 
even  remained  the  weightiest  of  them  all — Gethsemane 
remained ;  and  the  accursed  death  of  the  next  day 
remained.  But  then,  just  as  in  the  fourth  verse  of  the 
chapter,  Jesus,  in  a  triumpliant  assui-ance  of  faith,  had 
spoken  as  if  all  were  already  accomplished  to  the  full, 
saying,  "I  have  glorified  thee  on  the  earth;  I  have 
finished  the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do,"  and  as 
the  whole  subsequent  intercession  and  advocacy  together 
proceeds  on  that  assumption,  so  is  it  in  the  prayer  of 
our  text,  "  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  -syhom  thou 
hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am." 

Well;  but  may  we  not  venture  to  ask  a  further  ques- 
tion, Why  this  unwonted  "I  will," — this  language  of 
claim, — for  the  first  time  now  in  the  closing  petition, 
"that  they  be  with  me  where  I  am"?  If  I  am  not 
greatly  mistaken,  there  is  to  be  seen  here  a  very  pecu- 
liar tenderness,  and  grace,  and  faithfulness,  of  our  Lord 
Jesus,  "  Father.  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast 
given  me  he  with  me  where  I  am.^^  Is  it  not  the  loving 
and  faithful  Saviour,  claiming  at  length  his  affianced 
Bride, — claiming  his  dearly  "purchased  possession,"  his 
redeemed  body,  his  loved  and  ransomed  ones,  out  of 
this  world  of  sufieiing  and  sin,  to  be  immediately  with 
liimself  for  ever?  No  doubt  he  has  already  prayed, 
"  Holy  Father,  keep  through  thine  own  name  those 
whom  thou  hast  given  me" — "Sanctify  them  through 
thy  truth;  thy  word  is  truth."  But,  in  the  midst  of 
that  keeping  and  sanctifying,  ho  sees  them  still  in  the 
country  of  an  enemy, — in  the  world,  though  no  more  of 
it.  He  sees  them  in  conflict  still  with  many  an  adver- 
sary. He  "sees  them  toiling  in  rowing" — tossed  on 
tempestuous  seas — ' '  afflicted,  tossed  with  tempest,    and 


324  THE  CEOWNIXG  PETITION 

not  comforted."  He  will  not  have  tliem  thus  always. 
They  are  a  part  of  Himself, — the  ''members  of  his 
body,  of  his  flesh,  and  of  his  bones."  They  belong  to 
heaven  already  upon  earth.  And  so,  while  Christian 
friends,  it  may  be,  would  hold  them  back, — fain  detain 
them  here,  does  he  lovingly  claim  them  to  be  with 
Himself — so  claim  them  in  the  hearing,  as  it  were  (see 
ver.  13),  of  those  mourning  friends,  that  he  may  the 
more  prevail  on  them  to  part  ungrudgingly  with  them  for 
his  sake,  and  for  their  higher,  highest,  blessedness,  saying, 
"  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given  me 
be  with  me  where  I  am ;  that  they  may  behold  my 
glory." 

III.  But  thus  are  we  brought  to  the  third  and  last  par- 
ticular which  invites  our  thoughts  here,  even  the  prayer 
itself  in  the  matter  of  it — "That  they  be  with  me — I  will 
that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me 
where  I  am;  that  they  may  behold  my  glory."  Truly 
it  is  the  top-stone,  as  I  said.  It  is  the  crown  set  on 
the  entire  series  of  intercessions.  Very  precious,  indeed, 
each  of  them.  Yery  precious  that  one,  "  Keep  them 
through  thine  own  name;"  and  that,  "I  pray  not 
that  thou  shouldest  take  them  out  of  the  world,  but 
that  thou  shouldest  keep  them  from  the  evil ; "  and 
that  one,  "Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth,  thy  word 
is  truth."  But  all  had  been  incomplete  and  abortive 
without  the  prayer  of  the  text.  Grace  must  have  its 
consummation  in  glory.  The  bud  must  ripen  into  the 
flower, — the  seed  become  the  predestined  glorious  har- 
vest, "  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast 
given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am  ;  that  they  may  behold 
my  glory." 

1.  "  With  me — that  they  he  ivith  mc^  But  are  they  not 
"  with  him"  already  in  this  world  ?  In  a  very  important 
sense  they  are  already  with  him ;  and  He  is  with  them. 


OF  THE  INTERCESSORY  T HAYEK.  325 

They  are  witli  Ilim  by  faitli,  and  holy  love,  and  fellow- 
ship-). And  IIo  is  Mith  them  by  his  Spirit, — his  uphold- 
ing, sanctifying,  comforting  grace.  Vou  remember  his 
words,  ''Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door,  and  knock;  if 
any  man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  will 
come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  liim,  and  ho  with 
me  " — I  with  him,  and  he  with  me,  from  the  first  hour 
of  his  welcoming  me  truly  into  his  heart!  And  you 
remember  his  words,  **He  that  eatetli  my  flesh,  and 
drinketh  my  blood,  dwelleth  in  me,  and  I  in  him."  *'  I 
sat  down  under  his  sliadow,"  the  ransomed  Church 
exclaims — **  His  left  hand  is  under  my  head,  and  his  right 
hand  doth  embrace  me  " — "Truly  our  fellowship  is  with 
the  Fatlier,  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ."  Dear  hearers, 
know  we  anything  of  what  it  is  to  be  with  Christ  thus 
by  faith,  and  loving  fellowship,  here  ?  For,  assuredly,  if 
we  are  altogether  strangers  to  it,  and  shall  remain  so 
until  we  die,  never,  never,  shall  we  know  what  it  is  to 
be  with  Christ  in  the  unspeakably  higher  and  nobler 
manner  of  which  the  prayer  of  the  text  speaks,  *'I  will 
that  they  le  with  me  where  I  am.''^  And  what  is  that — 
that  higher,  nobler,  manner  of  being  with  Christ?  Ah, 
who  shall  tell  what  it  is  ?  It  is  unspeakable  indeed.  Eye 
hath  not  seen  it ;  ear  hath  not  heard  it.  But  generally 
at  least,  it  is  to  be  with  Christ  no  more  by  faith  in  the 
testimony  of  the  word,  but  personally  and  immediately 
with  him — "with  him  ichere  he  is,^^ — before  the  throne 
with  him, — with  him  in  the  immediate  presence  of  his 
Father  and  our  Father,  his  God  and  our  God, — with  him 
after  tliat  manner,  "I  belield,  and  lo,  a  great  multitude, 
Avhich  no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds, 
and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the  tlirono,  and 
before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes,  and  palms  in 
their  hands."  So  very,  very,  far  higher  is  this  manner  of 
being  with  Christ,  that  Scripture  elsewhere  speaks  as  if 
in  this  world  believers  were  not  with  Christ  at  all, — were 


326  THE  CROWNING  PETITION 

absent  from  him  altogether — "  Knowing,"  writes  Paul, 
"  that,  whilst  we  are  at  home  in  the  body,  we  are  absent 
from  the  Lord  ;  we  are  confident,  I  say,  and  willing  rather 
to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and  to  be  present" — for  the 
first  time  present — "with  the  Lord." 

And  thus  let  me  observe  that,  while  the  prayer  of  the 
text  is  to  have  its  highest  fulfilment  only  at  the  second 
coming  of  Jesus,  and  the  resurrection  of  the  body  in 
glory,  it  has  its  blessed  answer, — its  fulfilment  in  a  very 
glorious  manner, — at  and  in  the  death  of  the  believer,  his 
departure  out  of  this  world.  Happily  this  is  placed 
beyond  all  question  by  the  words  of  the  text,  taken  in 
connection  with  the  apostle's  words  just  alluded  to,  "  Ab- 
sent from  the  body,  present" — at  once  present — "with  the 
Lord."  0  yes — in  the  touching  words  of  our  Catechism — 
"  the  souls  of  believers  are  at  their  death  made  perfect  in 
holiness,  and  do  immediately  pass  into  glory."  "  Having 
a  desire,"  Paul  writes,  *'  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ " 
— "Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given  me 
be  with  me  where  I  am."  As  I  have  said,  we  cannot  tell 
what  that  is  in  the  details  of  it.  But  thus  much  is  certain, 
that  to  be  "  with  Christ  where  he  is,"  is  perfected  holiness, 
and  perfected  happiness,  both.  It  is  perfected  holiness, 
likeness  to  Jesus.  For  "there  shall  in  no  wise  enter"  into 
that  immediate  presence  "anything  that  defileth."  And 
it  is  perfected  happiness.  No  possible  tears  of  sorrow 
in  the  presence  of  this  blessed  One — "  In  thy  presence  is 
fulness  of  joy."  Beloved,  at  the  best  of  that  fellowshij^ 
with  Christ  which  is  in  this  world  by  faith,  it  is  but  a 
kind  of  distant  nearness,  so  to  speak — as  if  one  gazed  on 
the  picture  of  some  loved  friend,  or  read  a  much  prized 
letter  from  his  hand.  And  even  that  distant  nearness 
— how  liable  is  it  to  be  interrupted,  painfully  broken, 
so  that  the  believer  is  fain  to  cry  from  time  to  time, 
"Oh  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  him!"  "If  ye 
find  my  beloved,  teU  him  that  I  am  sick  of  love."     But 


OF  THE  INTERCESSORY  rRAYER.  327 

wliat  a  cliano^o  now,  "Father,  I  will  tliat  they  also  wlioiii 
thou  liast  given  mo  bo  with  mh  wiikue  I  7».m  "  ! 

2.  "  Tliat  tliey  may  behold,"  continues  the  Lord,  "  tlmt 
they  may  he/told  my  yloryy  And  here  again,  be  it  observed 
that,  as  the  believer  is,  in  an  important  sense,  "with 
Christ"  in  this  world,  so  in  this  world,  in  a  very  important 
sense,  does  lie  "  behold  Christ's  glory."  0  yes,  the  old 
words  still  hold  good,  "  The  "Word  was  made  flesh,  and 
dwelt  among  us ;  and  wo  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory 
as  of  the  onl}^  begotten  of  the  Father."  **  Yet  a  little 
while,"  said  Jesus,  "  and  the  world  seetli  me  no  more  ; 
hut  ye  see  meS'  "Wo  all,"  says  Paul,  "with  opon  face 
beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  tlie  Lord,  are  changed 
into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."  But  tlien,  listen  to  the  same 
apostle,  "AYhen  I  was  a  child,  I  spake  as  a  child,  I 
understood  as  a  child,  I  thought  as  a  child ;  but  when  I 
became  a  man,  I  put  away  childish  things.  For  now  we 
see  through  a  glass  darkly ;  but  then  face  to  face :  now 
I  know  in  part ;  but  then  shall  I  know  even  as  also  I 
am  known."  ^'■Through  a  glass — now  we  see  through  a 
glass," — that  is  to  say,  behold  Christ's  glory  by  faith  only 
in  the  reports  of  the  word  concerning  him — "  through  a 
glass  f7fl';7i7y," — dimly,  imperfectly,  more  or  less  erroneously, 
with  deep  shadows  liable  ever  to  come  across  our  vision — 
shadows  of  bodily  infirmity;  shadows  of  unbelief  and  sin; 
shadows  of  corruption,  desertion,  temptation.  "But  then 
face  to  face y  What  a  word!  "Thou  canst  not  see  my 
face, "  the  Lord  said  to  Moses  at  Horeb.  He  had  prayed, ' '  I 
beseech  thee,  shew  me  thy  glory."  And  the  Lord  had 
answered  him,  "  I  will  make  all  my  goodness  pass  before 
thee."  But  he  added,  "Thou  canst  not  see  my  face;  for 
there  shall  no  man  see  me,  and  live."  As  if  he  should  say 
— but  when  thou  dost  die,  Moses,  thou  canst,  and  shalt, 
see  me  face  to  face !  "  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom 
thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am ;  that  they 


328  THE  CROWNING  PETITION 

may  behold  my  glory."  Oh,  if  the  believer,  seeing  Jesus 
only  as  he  "shews  himself  through  the  lattice"  of  the 
word  and  ordinances, — seeing  him  but  through  a  glass 
darkly, — is  made  to  break  forth  from  time  to  time,  *'  His 
liead  is  as  the  most  fine  gold ;  his  locks  are  bushy,  and 
black  as  a  raven  " — *'  His  countenance  is  as  Lebanon, 
excellent  as  the  cedars" — "His  mouth  is  most  sweet; 
yea,  he  is  altogether  lovely,"  what  will  it  be  to  "  see  him 
as  he  is," — to  see  him  face  to  face, — to  see  him  without 
clouds,  without  shadows,  without  sin,  any  more, — to  see 
that  God-man, — that  crucified  One,  whose  "  visage  was 
so  marred  more  than  any  man,  and  his  form  more  than 
the  sons  of  men," — that  "Lamb,  as  it  had  been  slain,  in 
the  midst  of  the  throne," — that  "white  and  ruddy,  and 
chiefest  among  ten  thousand  "  ?  "  He  shewed  me  a  pure 
river  of  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of 
the  throne  of  Grod  and  of  the  Lamb.  .  .  .  And  there  shall 
be  no  more  curse  :  but  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb 
shall  be  in  it ;  and  his  servants  shall  serve  him  :  and  they 
shall  see  his  face ;  and  his  name  shall  be  in  their  fore- 
heads. And  there  shall  be  no  night  there ;  and  they  need 
no  candle,  neither  light  of  the  sun;  for  the  Lord  God 
giveth  them  light :  and  they  shall  reign  for  ever  and 
ever."  "Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast 
given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am ;  that  they  may  behold 
my  glory." 

Three  words  of  inference  before  I  close. 

(1.)  First,  what  blessed  light  is  cast  here  over  the 
glory  of  the  Saviour's  Person, — his  essential  and  eternal 
Divinity !  For  the  psalmist,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  speaks 
to  Jehovah  thus,  "  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  Thee  " — 
Thee,  Jehovah  ?  But  the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  text  makes 
heaven  absolutely  to  lie  in  being  with  Himself,  to  behold 
his  glory  !  How  abhorrent,  if  he  were  but  a  creature, — 
if  he  were  not  Jehovah,  the  "fellow  of  the  Lord  of 
hosts!"     How  revolting,  apart  from  such  words  as,   "I 


OF  THE  INTERCESSORY  rilAYER.  829 

and  my  Fatlior  aro  ono  " — "IIo  tliat  lialh  Pcon  mo  hath 
seen  the  Father'' — "Thomas  said  nntu  liim,  My  Lord 
and  my  God"  ! 

(2.)  Ag^ain,  ^vliat  light  is  cast  in  the  text  over  the  death 
of  them  that  die  in  the  Lord !  It  is  not  death,  in  fact — 
it  is  hut  the  answering  of  this  prayer,  "Father,  I  will 
that  they  also  whom  thou  liast  given  mo  be  with  me  where 
I  am ;  that  they  may  behold  my  glory."  Jesus  died ;  be- 
lievers sleep.  "  Absent  from  the  body,  present  with  the 
Lord."  "If  a  man  keep  my  saying,  ho  shall  never  see 
death.'  Amid  all  that  is  terrible  oftentimes  in  the 
outward  aspects  of  their  dying,  they  3'et  die  not  of  the 
covenant  of  works,  but  of  the  everlasting  covenant  of 
grace — as  in  answer  to  Christ's  prayer,  so  in  fultilment 
of  his  promise,  "  If  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you, 
I  will  come  again  and  receive  you  unto  myself;  that 
•where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also." 

(3.)  But  lastly,  what  solemn  light  is  cast  hero  over  the 
death  of  ungodly,  Christless,  men — "men  of  the  world, 
who  have  their  portion  in  this  life"!  Christless  men! 
But  Christ  is  heaven,  brethren ;  heaven,  in  the  ver}'  soul 
of  it,  is  to  be  with  Christ.  Thus  heaven  could  be  no 
heaven  to  them,  if  they  were  there.  But  alas !  not  only 
is  it  thus  impossible  they  should  be  in  heaven — con- 
tinuing as  they  are,  they  must  die  under  the  curse, — the 
unremoved  sentence  of  the  law ;  and  this  must  .be  their 
dying,  in  the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  "  The  rich  man 
died,  and  was  buried;  and  in  hell  he  lift  up  his  eyes, 
being  in  torments" — "  Between  us  and  you  there  is  a 
great  gulf  fixed :  so  that  they  which  would  pass  from  hence 
to  you  cannot ;  neither  can  they  pass  to  us,  that  would 
come  from  thence."  But  that  gulf,  blessed  be  God,  is  not 
yet  fixed.  Although  it  exists  already  in  this  world  between 
the  wicked,  and  God  with  his  ransomed  family,  there  is 
a  pathicay  as  yet  across  it — "  I  am  the  way,"  said  Jesus, 
"and  the  truth,  and  the  life;  no  man  comcth  unto  the 


330  THE  CROWNING  PETITION. 

Father,  but  by  me."  "I  pray  not  for  these  alone,  but 
for  them  also  who  shall  helieve  on  me  through  their  word." 
Oh,  will  you  not  be  persuaded  to  give  your  hand  to  this 
blessed  One,  that  he  may  lead  you  safe  across  the  gulf, 
once  and  for  ever  ?  "  Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and 
3^e  perish  from  the  way,  when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a 
little.     Blessed  are  all  they  that  put  their  trust  in  him." 

"Come  from  the  four  winds,  0  breath,  and  breathe 
upon  these  slain,  that  they  may  live  "  ! 

''Awake,  0  north  wind  ;  and  come  thou  south;  blow 
upon  my  garden,  that  the  spices  thereof  may  flow  out. 
Let  my  beloved  come  into  his  garden,  and  eat  his  pleasant 
fruits"! 


EDINBURGH  : 
PRINTED  BY  JOHN  GREIG  AND  SON. 


